Starting Over:: Daryl Dixon ::The Walking Dead
by t0ritee
Summary: 23 year old Kayla Easton is a small town girl from Indiana, surviving in a scary new world ruled by the undead. All she has left of her old life is her older brother, Zach, her best friend, Jessie, two strangers from her hometown and of course her memories. When Kayla&friends are welcomed to join Rick's group, relationships are tested, trust is destroyed, and love blossoms DARYLXOC
1. Chapter 1: How it all Began

hey guys! sooo i just recently watched seasons 1-3 of the walking dead, and i'm completely hooked! i'm waiting for season 4 to come out on dvd, so no spoilers, please! ;p

anyway, i fell in love with daryl from the beginning, and the idea for this story stirred up inside my head.

it's set at the beginning of the third season, going on througout. im going to follow the basic plot of the show, adding my own personal twist to things.

i hope everyone enjoys my first walking dead story, and my first story on wattpad! xoxo ((sorry if some details are a bit off... feel free to correct me, but please no rude comments. thanks!))

xxxxxxx

CHAPTER 1: How it all Began

It had been at least a year since the plague wiped out most of the earth's population.

I was one of the few survivors, including the four members of my group: Jessie, my childhood bestfriend; Zach, my older brother; Tina, a cashier at my formerly local grocery store; and Danny, a random stranger from my small hometown in southern Indiana.

The five of us had stuck together and survived ever since all hell broke loose... that's a day I'll never forget... it was my 21st birthday.

-FLASHBACK-

"Tonight's gonna be so awesome!" Jessie squealed from the backseat of my brother's 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee.

"I know," I agreed from the passenger seat, "I can't believe I'm turning 21! Aah!"

"Oh, please," Zach chuckled from behind the wheel, "You already drink like a fish, what's gonna be so different?"

"I won't have to hide my can of beer when the cops show up to parties anymore, that's what." I replied back matter-of-factly.

Zach rolled his hazel eyes behind his green Raybans sunglasses.

"That's a great aspiration for life, Kayla." he said, but couldn't help smirking.

"Oh, come on, Zach." Jessie piped up again, "Don't rain on Kayla's parade just because she's in her prime and you're like 30 now."

I cracked up laughing as my brother shot my best friend a how-dare-you look in the rearview mirror.

"I'm only 29!" he corrected her sharply, and she giggled.

"Relax, Zach! I'm just teasing you." Jessie reassured him, calming her fit of giggles.

"Yea, yea.." my brother scoffed.

I smiled at their banter as I rolled down the window, allowing the warm summer air to whip into the cab, sweeping my long auburn hair off my shoulders.

I dug into my purse, locating a fresh pack of cigerettes. They were Marlboro Reds, my favorite kind. I unwrapped the plastic casing, flipped the pack open and whipped out the first one. There was nothing like the feeling of having plenty of smokes.

I slipped the cigerette between my lips and sparked my pink camo Bic lighter, watching the end of my cigerette as the flame danced around it. I puffed on the cigerette twice, then exhaled the smoke. It was sucked out of the Cherokee like a vaccuum.

"Those things are gonna kill you one day, Kayla." Zach warned me for the hundredth time as I flicked the ash out the window with my thumb.

I rolled my dual colored eyes, one green and one honey brown. I had always embraced my heterochromia.

I had heard this speech a million times, and not just from Zach. But, I had been smoking since I was 15 years old, and I didn't intend on quiting anytime soon.

"That's okay, Zach," I replied as I glanced over at my brother, "We all die someday."

I stared at him as I took another drag from the cig, then exhaled. Zach shook his head and just focused on driving. He knew lecturing me would do him no good.

I turned my attention back out my window, waiting out the rest of the ride to the grocery store.

-LATER-

"All right, let's make sure we've got everything," I regrouped as Zach, Jessie and I huddled around the cart in the snack aisle.

"Jello for the jello shots, frozen pizza, doritos, oreos, cups, plates..." Jessie began naming items in the cart, "Oh, and we can't possibly forget the Captain and Mr. Jack." she smirked and motioned towards the bottles of Captain Morgan and Jack Daniels in the cart.

I wiggled my eyebrows at her and she giggled, causing her long, curly blonde hair to sway a bit.

"Sooo we got everything, right?" Zach asked, looking at each of us.

"Yup, let's go!" I replied as I pointed toward the cash registers.

As the three of us made our way to the check out lanes, we noticed a small group of customers forming somewhat of a line, although it looked more like a clump. They all seemed a little confused.

Some people had full carts, others had just a few items in a basket or in their arms. A middle aged man next to me held a single carton of milk in his hand. He looked frustrated and impatient, dressed in a t-shirt, pajama pants and slippers.

There was only one lane open in the checkout, and the cashier was absent.

"What's going on?" Jessie wondered aloud to no one in particular.

"Carlos, to your register, please," A woman's voice echoed through the store over the intercom, "Carlos, to your register."

"Looks like Carlos decided to take a 20 minute break instead of a 10.." Zach chuckled to himself.

I reached over and snatched the latest issue of People Magazine off the rack next to the candy, flipping through the pages and skimming through the articles of the latest celebrity drama.

After several minutes of waiting, there was still no sign of Carlos.

"Carlos, to your register, please." The woman's voice rang out over the intercom, sounding sharp and annoyed this time, "Carlos, to y-"

The intercom suddenly shorted out, causing an abrupt screeching noise. A few people in the cluster were startled and jumped a bit.

Then, there was a few moments of silence... But the sound of items falling off shelves and displays being pushed over could be heard from the back of the store.

"...Something isn't right..." an elderly woman whispered a few feet away from me, and my body tensed.

I found myself staring at her. Her comment was off putting and very eerie...

Suddenly, a horrible, ear shatterimg scream erupted from the canned soup aisle.

The cluster of people around us began to stir and chatter nervously, staring in the direction of the scream.

A tall, thin girl with short brown hair, dressed in the orange cashier's shirt and khakis dashed out of the aisle, fear and blood splattered across her face.

Behind her, a man in the same uniform hobbled up the aisle, the nametag on his shirt reading "Carlos"... But there was something morbidly wrong with him.

His eyes were milky white and bloodshot, and his flesh was an unnatural rusty color... it dissolved and rotted off his cheekbones, revealing his jaw bone and yellowing teeth..

Blood dripped from "Carlos"'s mouth, down his chin and stained the front of his orange shirt, which looked greasy and grimey anyway.

There was a disgusting, gaping wound on his neck, that was what looked like a bite mark..

His ankle was snapped, dragging on the tile with a sickening scraping sound, and his arms were outstretched, reaching for the cashier as he drug himself along.

Everyone was frozen in fear and disbelief, staring at this... this... zombie? I mean, was this some practical joke for Mtv or something?

Oh, but it wasn't. That would have been a gift from God.

"OH MY GOD..!" a woman in the group finally screamed, dropping her carton of eggs on the floor and pointing down the aisles.

Everyone began screaming and scattering about as they laid eyes on the entire heard of undead creatures droning toward us up the aisles, knocking miscellaneous items off the shelves as they dragged and clawed their way closer to us.

I had no control of my body, simply standing frozen and dumbfounded. This wasn't real. It couldn't be. This stuff only happened in movies.

"KAYLA!" Zach's voice thundered, and the next thing I knew I was being yanked backwards. I was unprepared for the sudden movement and lost my footing, toppling to the ground.

Just a few feet away, right where I had been standing, a zombie took down the pajama clad man from before. I watched in sheer horror as the undead beast sank its rotten teeth into the frantic, screaming man's neck. It then proceeded to rip the flesh and tendons from his body, making disgusting snapping and sloshing noises.

As Zach pulled me up off the floor, four more zombies dogpiled the man's body, ripping the flesh from his arms and legs, tearing into the soft skin of his stomach and unraveling his intestines... all while he screamed and tore at the slippery tile floor to get away.

I could not believe what I was witnessing... There was so much blood...

All of a sudden, one of the zombies chewing on the man's left arm lost interest in him, and gazed up at me. It was definately a woman, her long red ponytail was matted in dirt and blood. Her dress and stockings were dirty and ripped in multiple places, and she was missing one of her shoes.

She beared her gruesome teeth and let out a horrible screech before lunging at my legs.

I screamed as she latched onto my ankle, and kicked my leg wildy to break free. To my horror and disgust, her brittle wrist snapped after a few kicks, her boney fingers remaining intertwined tightly over my jeans.

"Holy fucking shit..." I gasped, staring wide eyed as the zombie kept crawling for me, despite missing her hand. Nasty, gooey black blood seeped from the wound at the end her arm and smeared all over the tile floor.

Zach grabbed ahold of my wrist again, dragging me through the chaos. Jessie wasn't far behind, and as I ran the severed zombie hand fell limp and released my ankle.

Outside, it was much worse. Fires blazed in a few of the trees and in the floors of the office buildings around the grocery store. Zombies roamed everywhere, chasing down the frantically screaming town's people in mass numbers... most weren't able to escape.

Cars were crashing into street lamps and store fronts, bursting into flames, killing any living person near it and setting fire to the undead, who simply became walking fireballs.

Frantic humans ran into gas stations with weapons and bags, ignoring desperate clerks and employees, grabbing everything they could... even police officers dropped their civil duties and fell into panic and survival mode.

The end of the world was actually happening.

Somehow, Zach, Jessie and I made it safely through the parking lot and into the Cherokee.

"What the FUCK is going on...?!" Jessie screamed, tears streaming down her pale face.

"I don't know, I don't know.." Zach rambled as he struggled to get the keys in the ignition, "I'm waiting to wake up."

Finally, he steadied his shaky hand just enough to slide the key into the ignition, turn it, and ignite the engine into roaring life.

"WAIT!"

There was a shout just as Zach threw the Cherokee into drive.

I looked out the window to my right, and there stood the tall, short haired cashier. Her dark brown eyes were wide and full of fear, and the blood was still smeared across her face.

I glanced down at the nametag clipped to her orange polo shirt. "Tina".

"I don't have a car," Tina pleaded breathlessly, "Please, help...!"

I glanced at Zach, but Jessie wasted no time in throwing open the backseat door and ushering Tina inside the vehicle.

"There's no way we can leave her here!" Jessie insisted as she slammed the car door.

Neither my brother nor I protested.

Without another word, Zach hit the gas pedal and we whipped out of the frenzied parking lot and headed toward home.

The car was silent, minus the roaring engine as we sped through the now nearly deserted streets of our small hometown in Indiana.

I desperately searched the radio, hoping for some news, anything that might give us some information. But, no matter which button I pressed, all I could hear was static. It was as if all life had just ceased to exist.

Finally, I gave up on the radio and sat back in my seat, peering out the windshield. I almost immediately wished I hadn't.

The town was full of bodies, laying everywhere; in the streets, in the sidewalks, in the bushes... even behind the wheels of crashed or overturned cars. And these bodies were slowly beginning to reanimate, on a hunt to feast on the living.

I peeked into the rearview mirror, looking at Jessie and Tina. Jessie stared out the windows, her baby blue eyes wide, and Tina did her best to keep her gaze down. She rocked back and forth slightly.

I kept watching as Jessie began to dig in her purse. She quickly whipped out her inhaler, and took two deep puffs. As she exhaled, she visibly calmed down.

Jessie had always had asthma, ever since we first met at age 5 in Kindergarten. In fact, that's how we met. It was recess, and Jessie was sitting with a teacher, using her inhaler because she had ran in a game of tag for too long.

I could remember sitting on the side of the playground in the shade with her, watching her puff on that inhaler and thinking it was so interesting and unique.

From that day forward, we had been completely inseperable.

I reluctantly tore my eyes away from my best friend's reflection and my mind redirected itself away from the fond memory and back into this sick, gruesome reality.

I turned my attention to Zach. His broad, masculine jaw was clenched tightly. Behind his sunglasses, his eyes were wide and terrified.

He gripped the steering wheel in a death grip with both hands as if the Cherokee would spin out of control if he didn't.

I placed my hand on his shoulder, but he didn't move, or look at me. He just kept driving forward. Jessie's neighborhood was our first stop, only a few minutes away.

As we pulled up to the intersection for the neighborhood, Arrowhead Mannor, Zach coasted straight through a red light and continued right through the open gate into the community... which didn't look much better than the town.

Garbage cans were overturned and tossed about, their contents littering the yards and sidewalks. Mailboxes were askew, some completely ripped from the ground. Cars and trucks were either left abandoned, set ablaze, or overturned and smashed to pieces. Most of the homes had smashed windows and front doors left agape.

Then there was the blood... there was so much of it. There were bodies laying in crimson pools that dripped down the driveways and into the streets, and zombies crouched over them to chew the remains. I felt like I could puke as I saw them ripping the organs from the body's of people who had been living an ordinary life just a few hours ago.

The area was littered with debris, body parts and bloody handprints... I didn't even want to imagine what we were going to find at Jessie's house.

Zach blew through three stops signs before taking a rignt onto Maple Avenue... Jessie's street.

My heart pounded as we continued all the way down the street, slowly pulling to a stop in front of the third to last house on the right, 2382... and my heart sank.

Jessie let out a horrible screech as we all laid eyes on three bodies in the driveway of her home, torn to bloody shreds and strewn across the yard. the bodies of Jessie's mother, father, and younger brother.

The doors to their Toyota Camry were left hanging open, and luggage lay next to what remained of the bodies.

"They tried to get away..." My best friend sobbed in the backseat. "They're gone... o-oh my god..." Her sobs became more violent as the death of her family sank in.

I shed quite a few tears myself as I reached into the backseat and put my hand on her shaking knee. Jessie's family had always been like my second family... and now they were gone.

Realizing there was nothing left to see, Zach whipped the car through the neighbors front yard, and we backtracked our way out of the neighborhood.

"What about your family, Tina?" my brother asked the cashier.

She quickly looked away.

"I-I live alone.." she stammered meekly.

Zach said nothing more, deciding to leave it at that.

We were now headed to our property out in the country side where I lived with our mom and dad, and Zach lived in a small one bedroom bungalow that our father had built him on the back edge of the property.

It felt like an eternity, driving past city limits, through the hills and cornfields before we reached Thomas Road, where our property was.

I felt sick as we rolled to a stop in front of the property, and I could do nothing but stare in disbelief.

Our field of a front yard was overrun with roaming zombies. Some chewed on other bodies, most droned about mindlessly.

Slowly, my eyes took in the big picture. Our large farm style home was up in bright orange flames, smoldering to the ground.

The source? My mother and father's red Ford pick up truck, smashed into the garage and barely recognizeable.

My parents were dead. They were gone... I would never see them again.

I was suddenly overcome with rage and immense sorrow.

"Drive.." I said to my brother as I buried my head in my hands. I couldn't bear to look any longer.

So, he did. He didn't ask questions... he just drove.

-HOURS LATER-

The sun was setting, casting a calm orange glow over the cornfield we were driving next to. The peaceful feeling was very out of place.

All we had was each other, this Cherokee, and no destination. No where to call home anymore.

This all felt like a huge nightmare, and I was just waiting to wake up... but I knew I was already awake.

"Hey," Jessie's voice broke our silence, "Guys, look!"

She leaned up between the two front seats and pointed out into the cornfield where a man in a red flannel shirt and jeans was running from a group of 8 or 9 zombies.

He had a shovel in his hand, and he turned and swung it as hard as he could at one of their heads. He landed just the right spot, smashing the skull and causing the body to fall limp. Blood sprayed all over, splattering across the stranger's chest.

The man turned around and kept running, the other zombies tripping and stumbling over the now lifeless body.

Before I knew it, Zach had whipped the Cherokee through the cornfield, speeding straight for the flannel clad man.

When we reached him, he seemed to surprised to other humans alive, and with a vehicle no less.

Behind me, Tina threw open the backseat door, and Zach craned his head over his right shoulder, making eye contact with the young man.

"Get in!" Zach hollered to him, "Hurry!"

The stranger complied, diving into the backseat without hesitation. He slammed the door shut and we darted off again, leaving the hungry zombies in a frenzy.

For a few minutes, the stranger was quiet, only making sounds of breathing deeply and catching his breath.

I glanced at him in the rearview mirror.

He looked to be about Zach's age, 28 or 29, with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a red flannel shirt and jeans, definately giving himself a country boy vibe.

After a few more minutes of tense, silent driving, the stranger spoke up.

"... I, uh... really appreciate you guys picking me up." He spoke with a slight drawl, but not much. "I would have been dinner for those things for sure."

Zach hesitated a moment, then nodded in response.

"No problem.." he mumbled. "I'm Zach."

"Danny." the stranger said with a slight bow.

My brother glanced at me expectantly and I sighed, feeling obligated to introduce myself.

"Kayla.." I muttered flatly.

"Jessie."

"I'm Tina."

"Well, I'm glad to meet you guys." Danny kept on, then paused a moment, "... I'm guessing you're all as clueless as I am in this?"

"You'd be right.." Zach agreed keeping his eyes on the road, "Our families are gone."

Danny nodded.

"My mom and sister, too.. those things,.they.." his voice became sad and trailed off.

Then there was silence again for a few minutes. We all knew what Danny was trying to say, and it obviously wasn't a very comfortable conversation topic.

"...I know where we can get guns and ammo," Danny suggested, breaking the silence once more, "We're gonna need 'em."

-PRESENT-

And so it all began.

Danny, Tina, Jessie, Zach and I stuck together, growing and strengthening through survival.

We kept the Cherokee running smoothly and decked it out so it was zombie, or "walker", proof. The five of us were on the road a lot, traveling south from Indiana.

We took shelter in tons of places, never staying in one place too long for fear of being overrun by the undead.

We collected different weapons and ammo, becoming expertly skilled with guns, knife work and archery.

As well as our collection of weapons, I also had another collection going. A personal collection.

Over the months, I had collected over 40 packs of smokes, at least 16 lighters and countless books of matches. I had my stash hidden in my bag, and since I was the only smoker of the group, I could make them last a long time.

Each member of our group had lost our families, but over time we had become a new one together.

And after a year and a half of gruesome travel and near impossible survival, we stumbled upon a goldmine of safety and luxury in this new world: a prison.

There was just one problem...

Another group of survivors had beat us to it.

-TO BE CONTINUED-

aah, i'm excited for this story! i hope at least some of you out there are interested enough to read my upcoming chapters. please vote&&comment, let me know what you think so far.. (: xoxo


	2. Chapter 2: Watching From Afar

Throughout our journey of survival, our group had its shares of ups and downs, just like any other group of people trying to face this everyday hell together.

For the first few months that the five of us were struggling to transition into a world overrun by walking corpses, we were brutally tested by life, both physically and emotionally. Trust and loyalty within the group were strung thin, we were at each other's throats, and there were times when each of us wanted so badly to just give up and give into our seemingly inevitable fate... to walk the Earth with the undead, as one of them.

But after a lot of inner searching, we all found the will to live deep inside of our souls. We stuck together like glue, and vowed to fight to the death to protect each other. Ultimately, we were a force to be reckoned with.

Each of us had our close encounters with walkers, hanging onto our lives by a dangling thread, as well as our moments of heroism. Through experience and trial and error, we discovered things about the walkers that gave us extreme advantages. We learned the things that attracted them the most, loud noise and the smell of blood; The things that repelled them, fire and the odor of other rotting flesh; Their weakest points, the skull and the base of the neck; And most important to our survival was the fastest way to kill them; destroy the brain.

All of our hard days and nights of grueling traveling, scavenging, and walker slaying had brought us to this day about a year and a half after the deadly outbreak, in this spot where we camped in a lush wooded area. We used Zach's Cherokee as our main form of shelter, since we could simply grab what we could and take off if we had to... which had happened more than once.

We left the doors open and used them as anchors for a blue sheet that created a sort of canopy. To the right of the Cherokee was a decent sized fire Danny and Zach had built that morning, crackling and smoldering away. On the opposite side of the jeep was a clothes line strung up between two tree branches. Hanging from the line were everyone's second pair of clothes, almost dry enough to wear. Pajamas and everyone's first pair of clothes were already in our wicker laundry basket and ready to be washed.

Behind the Cherokee, we had a solar powered camping shower hooked up so it was a bit more private. I had scored the shower with Jessie when our group stumbled upon an abandoned and raided camping ground about a month back. When we all split up to find supplies, that shower had been our big prize of the day. It was solar powered, so all we had to do was let the shower sit in the sun for a day, and it would have enough energy for all five of us to take about a seven minute shower. Not too far from the campsite was a fresh stream, so we all had plenty of water for showers to go around. That luxury wasn't always available, so hot showers were a huge treat.

We had a good sized area roped off around us, and dangling from the ropes were random pieces of chopped up walkers; ears, hands, feet; this kept other hungry walkers out of our campsite. But, there was always the chance of one of those undead freaks slipping by under the radar, so we were always alert. It was pretty much instinctual now.

Danny, Tina, Zach, Jessie and I had been posted in this spot for three days now with little trouble from any lurking walkers... But we knew it wouldn't be safe for long. If you were out in the open, you were vulnerable. When walkers got hungry enough, they always found a way to their next meal, even if it killed them.

It was my turn for a shower, so I quickly grabbed my clothes from the clothes line, including my lacey pink bra and thong, and black socks. My orange towel was the last thing I snatched up before disappearing behind the Cherokee. Within 30 seconds I was stripped and enclosed in the zip up chamber, pulling the drawstring that activated the hot water.

I breathed out a long sigh of content and closed my eyes as I felt the soothing water wash down over my body, soaking through my long auburn hair. A hot shower was so simple but so amazing, and in today's world you definately learned to appreciate the little things.

I quickly lathered up, rinsed, and even snuck in a quick shave with a cheap dollarstore razor that I pitched into the woods once I was done with my shower.

I dried off and yanked on my clothes as fast as I could and without really thinking. My outfit consisted of a white tank top, black leather jacket, tight dark wash jeans and a pair of brown hiking boots. As Tina jumped in the shower, I brushed out my hair and twisted it into its usual french braid.

I made my way back out into the campsite to be met with Jessie, who was poking at the fire and tossing in a few dry twigs to keep it fueled. She had been the first to shower that morning, so her face looked soft and rosy, with not a trace of grime anywhere. Her long curly blonde hair fell loosely around her shoulders, and she was dressed in a pair of navy colored pants similar to the fabric of khaki pants, a mint green tank top and a denim jacket.

"Hey." I greeted Jessie with a smile, and she smiled back.

"Hey there." Jessie's baby blue eyes seemed to smile right along with her peachy lips.

"Have you seen the guys anywhere?" I asked, "I've been looking for them."

Jessie pursed her lips in thought.

"Well, I don't really know where Danny is, but Zach took off that way a little while ago... down this tree line." Jessie informed me while she pointed to the west border of our campsite.

I thanked Jessie and told her I'd catch back up with her in a little while, then set off down the tree line to find my brother.

We were somewhere in Northern Georgia, having traveled south from Indiana. It was the middle of summer again, and the woods was lush, green, and thriving. The only sounds as I walked were birds chirping up in the trees, and my boots crunching against leaves and twigs as I trudged along.

Soon, the Cherokee, fire and clothes line faded into the distance slightly behind me, and I caught sight of Zach. He was crouched in the brush, peering through a pair of binoculars.

As I approached him, I could see what he was looking at. About 300 yards away, the side of the fenced in prison was visible. When I looked closer and scanned the entire perimeter, I could see the countless amounts of walkers staggering about, the ones near the fence grabbing ahold of the metal and clinging to it.

I crouched down next to Zach, who didn't take his gaze from the binoculars.

My brother, along with the rest of us, had changed over the many months we had been on the road. His body was leaner and more muscular, his skin was tanner, and his five o'clock shadow had sprouted into a dark beard that matched his head of shaggy dark hair. He wore a green baseball cap on his head to tame his hair, a black t-shirt, faded jeans and a pair of hiking boots similar to mine.

His shot gun rested next to his left boot, perfectly in reach just in case.

"Hey," I greeted Zach quietly after a few moments of silence. My hand was instinctively drawn to rest on my hunting knife strapped to my right thigh, just in case we were suddenly ambushed. I had left my dual pistols and my AK-47 back at the campsite inside the Cherokee.

"I see them." Zach replied in a whisper, skipping the hello all together.

My heterochromial eyes widened slightly. He was talking about the group of people that had taken over the prison, just barely beating the five of us to it. We had no idea what these people were capable of or willing to do, so we decided to hang back and keep watch for a few days.

But we hadn't spotted any of them since the day we arrived, and we were starting to question whether or not they were still alive in there... until now.

"You do...?" I whispered back.

Zach just nodded.

"Something happened..." He continued, hooking my interest.

"Huh..? What do you mean?" I urged him to tell me more and ease my confusion.

"There's a shit load of dead walkers, all over the damn place..." Zach muttered, his tone somewhat disgusted, "Everybody's weapons are drawn... They look beat to hell. But I think there's a few of them missing... I can't tell."

I couldn't take it anymore. I inched closer to my older brother and nudged his shoulder.

"Let me see," I said, holding my hand out for the binoculars, "C'monnn." I pleaded when he glanced at me and raised a single eyebrow.

Finally, Zach gave in and slapped the binoculars in my hand with a heavy sigh.

I held them up to my eyes and located the group of people standing amidst a sea of blood, rotting body parts and dead walkers. I made a mental checklist of each person as best as I could remember them, and started checking each of them off one by one as I saw them.

There was the thin man in the sheriff's uniform with curly brown hair and blue eyes; check.

The cute, young and timid looking asian man; check.

The old man with the long white beard and old fashioned clothing who now, to my amazement, was missing the lower half of his left leg; check.

The pretty, innocent looking blonde girl who couldn't have been any older than 16 or 17; check.

The middleaged woman with the short haircut; check.

The African American man who looked as if he could have easily been a tough football hall of famer; check.

Then finally, there was that grizzly looking redneck guy with the scruffy brown hair, blue eyes, and crossbow; check.

I examined the distressed group of people a few times over. Zach was right, they were missing a chunk of their members, but I couldn't figure out who.

Then suddenly, it hit me.

"The pregnant woman..!" I gasped quietly.

"What?" Zach asked me in a confused tone.

"That's who's missing," I clarified, "The pregnant woman... and that little boy with the hat.. and the girl with the short bob haircut, the asian guy's girlfriend."

There was quiet for a second or two before I heard Zach's voice again.

"They probably turned..." He whispered darkly.

"Maybe.." I agreed solumnly. It was probably the most likely outcome. "...Wait!"

Something had caught my eye. In the far left corner of the prison lot, a huge rusty steel door swung open. The young boy that was missing from the group emerged from behind it, keeping his head down with the brim of his hat covering his freckled face. He had a death grip on a powerful looking revolver in his right hand.

The man in the sheriff's uniform was visibly relieved to see the boy, rushing to hug him. I assumed they were father and son.

Shortly after the boy and the sheriff were reunited, I watched as someone else emerged from behind the door. It was the girl with the short, golden brown bob.

Her arms were coated up to the elbows in dried blood, and I could see that she was deeply disturbed by the horrified look on her face. In her arms, she clutched something small, bundled up in a jacket. A baby.

I felt my heart sink a little as I watched the sheriff speaking words I couldn't hear, glancing back and forth between the boy and the girl.

When the girl simply shook her head and burst into tears, the sheriff lost it before my very eyes. While the girl holding the baby hobbled weakly over to the asian man who held her in his arms, the sheriff unraveled. He cried and braced his palms on his knees, hanging his head low and letting the violent sobs rack his body. Ultimately, he threw himself on the concrete, rolling back and forth to cope with his grief. I put it all together... the pregnant woman was the sheriff's wife, and that was his new baby that had just been born into the shell of what used to be life.

All this time, Zach sat quietly, just watching my facial expressions change with each and every disturbing incident.

"What's happening, Kayla..?" he finally whispered to me.

I dropped the binocars from my eyes and turned my gaze to my brother.

"The pregnant woman, she had the baby... but she didn't make it... and I just watched her husband pretty much lose his mind.." I mumbled. I was deeply upset by this, the image of the girl's arms stained in blood and that poor man rolling on the ground stricken with grief.

I couldn't imagine surviving with a loved one for so long, only for them to just be ripped away from you at any moment, no matter what you do to prevent it... I stared at my brother, feeling the harsh realization that it could happen to him... or Jessie... it could happen to any of us at any time.

Even me...

"Hey!" a familiar voice called out, scaring the shit out of Zach and I. I flinched so violently that I lost my grip on the Binoculars, rocketing them to a crash landing in the brush.

"Whoops.." I said in a sheepish way as I began to fish the binoculars from the tangled weeds and branches.

"Jesus, Danny, do you have to sneak up on us like that?" Zach demanded, still a bit shaken.

I had now located the binoculars and snathched them out of the brush. I turned and faced the other way, my eyes spotting Danny a few feet up the path, closer to the camp site. His blonde hair was halfway past his chin now, so he usually wore it in a low pony tail at the base of his neck. Just like Zach, Danny's facial hair was slightly untamed, but not too crazy yet.

Danny was dressed in a blue flannel shirt over a white long sleeve shirt, khaki cargo shorts and a pair of black Nike tennis-shoes.

"Sorry, man." Danny chuckled at my brother's comment, "I was just gettin' ready to go huntin'. You wanna come with me?"

"Uh, yea sure. just-" Zach started to respond to Danny's offer, but I cut him off before he could say too much.

"Actually, Zach, I was, uh... Hoping I could go." I stammered a bit nervously but kept my voice strong, my head up and my gaze sharp.

Zach raised his dark eyebrows at me.

"I don't think so." my brother shot me down immediately.

"Why do you always do this?" I demanded. The frustration was obvious in my voice. "There's no difference between me chopping through herds of walkers while we're traveling, and going out in the woods to shoot a few squirrels."

"It actually is different," Zach countered, "You have to do that in order to survive and keep up with the group. But you're not just going to go walking off the campsite where it's safe for no good reason, we've talked about this. Not while I'm here."

"Um, yes I am."

"No, Kayla, you're not."

"God dammit, Zach," I snapped in irritation, "I can hold my own and you know it. When are you going to accept the fact that you can't protect me anymore?!"

Zach and Danny were quiet, while I continued with my outburst.

"I'm not your little baby sister anymore, Zach. This isn't our pretty little life anymore. I kill those... things.. every fucking day. I can handle myself and my own decisions, and I don't need my brother living in the past and breathing down my neck."

I slapped the binoculars into my brother's chest, and he just looked at me sharply with his hazel eyes. I averted his gaze, and began marching back toward camp.

"C'mon, Danny..I just have to get my guns." I said to my blonde haired group member who slowly followed behind me.

Zach chose to stay and spy on the prison crew, but I knew he was just pouting because he didn't get his way.

I understood where my brother was coming from, I really did. I was his little sister, younger by eight and a half years, and he had always been protective of me. When I was in high school, he scared off at least three of my boyfriends.

Now in this world, Zach and I only had each other. Sure, we had Danny, Tina, and Jessie, but Zach and I were siblings. We were blood, and that was something not many people had left anymore. So, Zach felt like he had to protect me with his life. But I was a big girl, and I was completely capable of taking care of myself.

Zach would just have to accept that.

When we got back to camp, I made a B line for the Cherokee. I leaned inside the cab, stretching a little bit to reach my dual pistols and their hulster belt, as well as my automatic AK-47 with its across-back strap.

I said good-bye to Tina and Jessie, then met Danny on the East border of camp.

He was equipt with a machete, shot gun for heavy duty damage, and a small pistol.

"You ready?" Danny asked me as I approached him.

"Yup." I responded with a nod, "Now let's go before Zach comes up here and tries to change my non-existant diaper or something."

Danny laughed at my stupid, sarcastic joke, then lifted up the walker repellent line so we could slip underneath.

As we trudged out through the Georgia woods, the only sounds made were the crunching of our shoes against the twigs and leaves on the ground.

We didn't say a word to each other for a good while, and that was all me. My mind was in a complete fog.

I couldn't get the image of those people in the prison suffering out of my head. Usually, I didn't have much sympathy for other people now adays, but there was just something about that group that intrigued me and made me feel hopeful... And I had never even met them.

But ontop of all these emotions coursing through my mind and body, there was another strange feeling I just couldn't shake... Like we hadn't been the only ones spying...

-TO BE CONTINUED-


	3. Chapter 3: A Different Perspective

AN: alright, i just want to say a few things:

1) I am doing my BEST to keep Daryl in character, including typing in a way that potrays his southern accent.. so if any words or phrases look a little weird, just think of it in a southern drawl. ((ie: "down'ere" = "down there", "world'a" = "world of", etc))

2) From here on out, the story will be a mix of events that happened in the show, and things that I make up. I might even switch the order of some events. Just a warning so no one is confused!

Thanks everyone, pleaaase vote&&comment (:

-DARYL POV-

Walkers always had a way of showin' up at just the wrong time, 'n today was livin' proof'a that.

They must'a breached the fence at one'a its weak points 'n stormed the lot, hungry 'n lookin' for their next meal. Today they'd picked the wrong people to fuck with.

The walkers had taken us by surprise 'n split our group up...Lori, Carl 'n Maggie had gone missin' somewhere in'a lower half'a the prison durin'the attack. Those halls down'ere were like a damn maze, and they couldn't manage keepin'up. I hoped for the best but expected the worst... somethin' you learned to do these days, or you were in for a world'a hurt.

When I was sure every last one'a those undead flesh munchers was taken out, I lowered my trusty crossbow down to my side. The eerily quiet lot was soaked in blood 'n walker heads layin' around everywhere. We were all just standin' around, waitin' to see who'd be the one to move first. As I looked around the group'a us, I noticed Rick startin' to look a little paniced. No doubt he was thinkin'a Lori and Carl.

Suddenly, a huge rusted over door creaked open on the other side'a the lot. A hopeful feelin' rose in'a group as we all watched Carl walk on out, expectin' to see Lori right on his heels like always. But for me, that feelin' disappeared when I saw Carl's head held low 'n his slow, defeated stride. Rick, on'a other hand, made a B-line for Carl 'n dropped to his knees in front'a him. He touched the boy's face with both hands, starin' him in the eyes... But Carl didn't budge.

When the door creaked open a second time, Maggie stepped out. She was shaken up, 'n her arms were all bloody. Then a sound I was sure none'a us had heard in a real long time echoed over the prison lot. It was the weak cries of a baby, 'n it was comin' from the bundle nestled in Maggie's arms.

It was Lori's baby.

And that's when the reality hit me like a ton'a bricks. Usually, our group was a real team. We always kicked some walker ass 'n got out in one piece. But today, we suffered a loss... I knew Lori wasn't gon' be comin' outta that door.

"No, no, no, no..." Rick started to groan as he paced back 'n forth across the bloody concrete. "Lori... Not Lori..."

The rest'a us had no choice but to stand there 'n watch while Rick quickly came to terms that Lori was dead. While Glenn comforted Maggie 'n the baby, Rick threw himself on'a ground, cryin' out and sobbin' real hard. The grief was just crushin' him...

After a few seconds, it got hard to watch Rick anymore without feelin' like I'd break down myself.

So, I quietly excused myself from the group, 'n decided to do a sweep'a the lot's border. We'd wiped out at least 70 walkers inside the prison just a few minutes ago, but it was never a bad idea to double check.

Armed with my trusty ol' crossbow, I strolled along the edge'a the lot by the fence. I stepped over the bodies'a the walkers, kickin' their heads a little just to make extra sure they were dead.

The hot Georgia sun was beatin' down on me pretty hard. By the time I got myself over to the front gate, I was wipin' the sweat outta my eyes with the back'a my forearm. From where I was standin', I could see the entire prison yard, 'n clear out into the woods outside the fence. There wasn't a walker left standing in the yard, but I knew it wouldn't be too long before another herd sniffed us out.

Suddenly, somethin' caught my eye. Past the fence 'n out into the woods, up the steady incline, I could see movement. The bushes were rustlin' about like somethin' was tryin' to tear its way through.

My first thought was that second herd had sniffed us out pretty damn quick.

I climbed up the watch tower, fast as my legs would carry me. Once I got to the top, I snatched up one'a the pairs'a binoculars we left up'ere for this exact reason.

I steadied the binoculars up to my eyes 'n peered out into the forrest, watchin' for the movement that had caught my eye before.

"C'mon..." I grumbled to myself, as if that would'a coaxed the walkers out, "I know you're out'ere, you flesh eatin' pieces a-"

That's when I saw the bushes rustlin' around again, 'n my breath caught in my throat. I was ready to jump down off'a this watch tower at the first sight'a walkers, 'n I'd take 'em down myself... No need to put the rest'a the group through anymore stess today.

But what ended up comin' outta the bushes wasn't a walker... not even close. I stared through the binoculars as a young woman peeked outta the twisted weeds 'n roots. From what I could see, she looked in her early twenties, 'n her long hair was pulled back outta her face. She looked like she was searchin' for somethin', pokin' 'n prodin' through the brush. Finally, the girl ripped a pair'a binoculars, just like the ones in my hands, free from the roots, 'n then ducked back behind the wall'a foliage.

I felt my brow furrow, 'n curiosity kept me starin' out into the woods. I could just barely make out the top'a the girl's head, but as she moved around I noticed two other people... two men who looked to be about 30. One was blonde, the other had dark hair under a ballcap.

The three'a 'em carried on a discussion that I obviously couldn't hear, but it seemed to get a little tense in the end. I watched while the girl stormed off, 'n the blonde guy followed along behind her. They walked together for a few yards before reachin' a small camp. The trees were blockin' most'a my view, but I could see what looked like an SUV with a blue sheet draped over the open doors, smoke from a fire, 'n a clothes line full'a pants 'n t-shirts.

How had we not seen this camp site before..?

The young woman 'n man finally got themselves back to camp, 'n blondie waited while the girl went 'n grabbed somethin' from the SUV. I couldn't see what it was, though. When she walked back on over to him again, they ducked under a rope tied around their camp. I could see walker hands, ears, 'n other body parts hangin' from the rope.. smart.

I watched as the pair tromped away from the campsite. I thought for a second... then I glanced over my shoulder. No one in the group in sight. I set down the binoculars, then shimmied back down the watchtower, squeezed through the front gate, and shut it behind me as quietly as I could.

I walked through the yard, weavin' around the corpses that had died today, for the second 'n last time.

After a minute or so, I reached the treeline. I was on my way to do some investigatin'.

-KAYLA POV-

Danny and I had been walking along in silence, trying not to stray too far from camp. This was a little hard to do, though. We hadn't come across so much as a rat, and I felt like we'd been trying to hunt for hours. We had probably really only been gone about 40 minutes.

The woods was eerily quiet today... For now, at least.

"Wonder where all the walkers are hidin' today?" Danny said as we paused in a small clearing. It was like he had read my mind.

Danny wiped the glistening sweat from his forehead with the long, white sleeve of his shirt, then scanned the area with his eyes.

I couldn't stop thinking about the people in the prison, and how much pain they suffered through right before my eyes just a short while ago.

The way the man in the sheriff's uniform rolled on the ground in agony, and the way his son just stood there, seemingly feeling nothing, was etched into my mind. It just kept replaying.

"Kayla?" Danny's voice ripped me out of my foggy thoughts, and I snapped my eyes toward him.

"Uh, h-huh?" I stammered in response.

"I said I'm ready to keep goin' if you are.." Danny explained, "You okay? You seem a bit off today."

I quickly put up a front.

"Hm..? I'm fine." I replied with a fake smile.

Danny squinted his blue eyes at me. He didn't seem to believe my white lie.

"You sure?" Danny proded a bit more, and I wished he would just stop asking me questions.

"Yea. Just tired, is all." I assured him, hoping my voice sounded as sincere as I was trying to force it to be.

Danny looked at me for a few seconds longer before shrugging his question away.

"All right, then. Whatever you say-"

Suddenly, there was a rustling sound in the bushes, sounding like it was coming from all around us... and it was quickly growing closer. Soon, the sounds of groans, snarls and gurgles accompanied the rustling sounds, and footsteps became more distinct. I caught a whiff of the strong smell of decomposing flesh. That only meant one thing: Walkers.

My hand shot to my hunting knife strapped to my right thigh. I unsheathed the blade and gripped it tightly.

Then, straight ahead of me, 3 male walkers tore their way out of the brush. Their rotting flesh and clothing snagged against the branches, ripping and tearing from the bodies. I backed up a bit, just as two more walkers staggered out from the same spot in the brush. On each side of me in my pereferal vision, I could see several walkers joining the attack.

I cursed under my breath. Danny and I were boxed in. The only way out was to fight, and kill every last one of them... again.

As the first three walkers stumbled closer to me, snapping their blood soaked teeth, I lifted my arm into the air. In one swift motion, I impaled the top of one of their skulls with my knife, ripped the blade free, then turned it sideways and stabbed a second walker straight through the temple.

Cold, black blood splattered everywhere, making a sickening squishing noise. When I tore the knife free of the second zombie, I lifted my right foot and placed it against its chest.

With a grunt, I used my leg to shove the lifeless walker's dead weight ((no punn intended)) into the remaining group of three that were still snarling and reaching out towards me. The zombies tripped and fell over the body, buying me some time.

I backed up some more, glancing over my shoulder at Danny. He was slashing through a crowd of walkers about four or five deep with his machete.

"Shit.." I cursed as several more walkers appeared out of no where, "Where the hell are all you bitches coming from?!"

At this point, there were too many of these freaks to fight off with just a hunting knife. I sheathed the bloody knife as fast as I could, then whipped my dual pistols out of their hulsters at my hips.

I pointed one of the pistols in the direction of the walkers creeping up on our left, and the other pistol at the few that were still in front of me.

I fired off quick pops, taking out one of the undead with each bullet. One by one, the bloody, reanimated bodies collapsed to the ground with heavy "thuds".

Behind me, Danny hacked through the last handful of walkers, spinning his

machete about like a pro.

When the last body fell, Danny and I were left standing in the clearing as the victors. I took a moment to catch my ragged breath, making sure there weren't any stragglers that were going to sneak up on us before I lowered my pistols.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that..." I mumbled.

Right beneath my feet, a walker lay face up. Its milky white eyes stared straigjt into mine, its mouth agape. The bullethole between its eyes was still oozing thick black blood, and I made a face of disgust.

"Crazy how they just come outta no where." Danny agreed while he bent down to wipe his machete on the grass. The blood from the blade left a deep red stain on the ground.

I didn't say anything. I simply re-hulstered my guns, and took a moment to breathe. I heard Danny's heavy footsteps approaching me from behind.

"Well, we're alive, so we might as well keep lookin' for food." He suggested in his slight southern drawl. "Good job, killer."

My body instantly tensed up as I felt his palm make contact with my ass, giving it a light smack. My cheeks burned in a rosy pink blush, and my wide eyes stared at his back as he began to walk away.

Danny had always been a flirt, but not just with me. Although, he had never done anything physical before...

I tried to do my best not to let it get to me, though. It was probably just a friendly joke to help lighten the mood. So, I swallowed my female pride showing through, and began to follow behind Danny.

I hadn't even taken ten steps before a strange feeling overcame me, stopping me in my tracks. It was the same feeling as before, as if I was being spied on, and I just couldn't shake it.

My dual colored eyes slowly scanned the area, seeking out anything unusual... But I couldn't find anything.

"Kayla?" Danny called me from a few yards away, "You keepin' up?"

"Yup, I'm coming!" I hollered back.

I scanned the area one more time before jogging to catch up with Danny.

Every few minutes though, I would steal a glance at our surroundings or over my shoulders.

Someone, somewhere had their eyes on us... I just had a gut feeling...

-TO BE CONTINUED-


	4. Chapter 4: Discovered

-DARYL POV-

Outside the prison in'a woods, the summer heat wasn't as intense. The canopy'a tree branches above my head gave me plenty'a shade... Sure was muggy, though.

My hair stuck to the thin film'a sweat formin' on my forehead, but I just ignored it. There was no point in wipin' it away, it'd only take about 10 seconds for my hair to wind right back up stuck to my damn forehead... I just stopped lettin' it bother me.

I was just thankful all my shirts were tank tops, or else I would'a ripped all the sleeves off'a 'em by now, anyway.

I tried my hardest to keep my footsteps light 'n quiet as I weaved my way through the trees. I was headin' in the direction I'd seen that man 'n girl go off in, 'n I didn't wanna be drawin' any attention to myself; human or walker.

Speakin'a walkers, I hadn't run into a single one yet. Usually, you'd have 10 or 12 right on your heels, quick as you stepped outta your safety zone... if ya had one. But, when I stopped to listen for any warnin' signs, the forrest was quiet.

I could hear a bird chirpin' up in a tree somewhere, 'n the leaves on the branches rustled together when the breeze came through.

Other than that, nothin'. I had to admit, it was a little eerie... I kept my crossbow pointed out in front'a me anyhow, ready to fire on the first thing that crossed me the wrong way.

I was patient, walkin' just a little bit farther in quiet, surveyin'all around me as I went. Finally, I caught my first sight'a walkers since I left the prison yard at least a half hour ago. The walkers ahead had their backs to me..and they were all staggerin' 'n stumblin' toward the same place. I was far back enough for them to not notice me.. except for one, approachin'me from my right side. I glanced over at the livin'corpse; a man, or what used to be, with a buzz cut. Its face was distorted 'n rotted away, but its jaw was still intact, 'n snapped hungrily at me.

I held up my crossbow with just my right arm. When the walker got close enough, I fired at point blank range. The arrow speared the walker, shootin' through its forehead and out the back'a its skull.

The force from the power'a my bow launched the walker backwards about two feet, pinnin' it to a thick tree trunk. I waited a second as the creature squirmed, then fell limp; eyes 'n mouth hangin' open, like its face was frozen in a scream. I walked up to the body 'n firmly gripped my arrow.

"Nice try..." I grumbled at the corpse, then gave the arrow a good, hard yank. "Bastard."

The sharp arrow tip wedged itself free from the tree bark, rippin' through the corpse's skull with the sudden motion. It took pieces'a skin and bone with it, which splattered across my shirt.

With nothin' to hold it up now, the body flopped forward, landin' face down in the grass at my feet. Dark red blood formed in a pool under the walker's face, 'n I felt my face twist into a sneer while I stared down at it 'n reloaded my bow.

Luckily, I hadn't been distracted too long; I could still trail behind the larger group'a walkers all headed in one direction. They were all bein' drawn to somethin' like a magnet... or maybe more like a dinner bell. When walkers were this focused, it only meant one thing: people were near by... 'n I had a pretty good hunch that I knew exactly who those people were.

So, I held my crossbow pointed forward in attack-mode, 'n crept along behind the undead, quietly as I could manage.

Sure enough, the walkers led me about fifty or sixty feet forward to a clearin', where the man 'n girl I'd seen were surrounded.

Thinkin' on my feet, I ducked behind a thick tree trunk to avoid bein' seen by the two strangers. I watched them from a bit of a distance... I wanted to see what they could do.

The walkers went straight at the pair from all sides, and I could clearly see a look of panic on both of their faces. But, they didn't run. They stood their ground, and the girl made the first move.

She surprised me when she whipped out a razor sharp huntin' knife 'n stabbed the first walker straight down through its skull, takin' it out instantly. In a split second, she had the blade torn out of the first walker, flipped the blade in her hand and drove it into a second walker's temple.

This time, before she withdrew her knife, the girl placed her foot against the corpse's chest, 'n shoved it backwards. This motion alone yanked the blade free, while the body knocked into a group of four snarling walkers, topplin' 'em over like dominos.

Behind the girl, Blondie was busy hackin' away at a group'a maybe about 6 or 7 walkers with his machete. The blade cut through the rotten flesh like a hot knife through butter, sendin' blood flyin' 'n heads rollin'.

I loosened my grip on my bow'n kept watchin' those two mow down each 'n every walker that came their way. Honestly, I was impressed. They'd obviously had a lot'a practice.

Just as that thought left my mind, I noticed the girl startin' to look a little worn down. Her motions were strained 'n her limbs looked heavy as she moved. I could see the pain in her face.

I put my hand on my cross bow, tryin' to decide if I would either A) Help these people out if the walkers got the best of 'em or B) Wait for the walkers to be done with lunch, then raid the bodies for weapons 'n ammo.

I was still 50/50 between the two.

But before I knew it, that chick had shoved her hunting knife back in its sheath, 'n whipped out two pistols from a hulster on each hip. She turned her body so she could point one handgun behind her at the walkers tryin' to devour her partner. She pointed the other one straight in front'a her at the walkers hobblin' her way; 'n I was directly in the line'a fire.

"Oh, shit...!" I grunted as I ducked down, right as the first shot was fired. The bullet must've blown straight through its target, or missed it all together, causin' it to deflect and score the bark'a the tree right above my head.

I flinched a little bit, but kept my cool, layin' low near the tree roots. I counted 14 shots before everything got real quiet again.

I stayed down on my stomach by the tree roots, hidden by the brush, and waited out the silence.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that..." I finally heard the girl talk. Her voice was delicate 'n real feminine.

It was safe now, so I sat up, real slow 'n quiet, and crouched near the base'a the tree trunk where I could spy without bein' visible.

Blondie knealt down to the ground and rubbed his bloody machete against the grass to clean it.

"Crazy how they just come outta nowhere." He said as he flipped the blade over. This time he wiped the blood in a fresh spot'a grass, leavin' a fresh red stain.

The girl kept quiet 'n put her pistols away in their hulsters. She still seemed shaken up from fightin' that herd'a flesh munchers. Her breathin' was ragged 'n her face looked drained.

I watched as Blondie stayed in the kneeling position, starin' at the girls backside. Well, I couldn't blame the man... she had a cute face and a hot, fit body, wearin' a pair'a those real snug jeans. 'n with 80% of Earth's human population wiped out, ya couldn't blame a guy for sneakin' a peek at a nice butt if it comes along... 'n if its in your group with ya, then more power to ya... Just as long as you ain't crossin' any lines.

After gettin' a healthy eyefull, the man slowly stood up, makin' his way over to the girl, who still had her back turned to him. His footsteps made loud thuds as he drew closer.

Then, I watched as he crossed the line.

"Well, we're alive, so we might as well keep looking for food." he said when he got right behind her. Then, in one swift motion, he opened his palm, drew his hand back, and gave her rear a firm slap. "Good job, killer."

And by the look on her face; Shocked, wide eyed, and cherry red; this guy was definately NOT her boyfriend.

I had personal experience with that look... all women had it. Back in my bar hoppin' days in my twenties, I'd get shitfaced and try pickin' up some drunk slut.. and I'll admit I got a little handsy, just like this fella here.

But, I was 37 now, almost 38, 'n the thought'a treatin' women that way now was just disgusting, and well... embarassin' really.

But maybe that was just my age talkin'. Or maybe it was the fact that I'd been livin' in some kind of unbeatable video game for the last year 'n a half... Who the hell knows?

But, despite all'a that, the man kept on walkin', disappearin' into the trees to the right. I watched the girl closely as she took a deep breath, 'n recollected herself. I was pretty sure she was gonna let that little violation slide... Hm. Girl had better will power than me.

She turned to her right, showin' the back of her reddish-brown hair, which was in a long braid down the back of her head. Hey, I don't know all the fancy, girly names for hair-dos, I just know its a braid.. 'n even that's a stretch.

She took a few steps in the same path her partner had taken, tryin' to catch up with him.

I assumed it was safe, 'n braced myself to stand upright; One hand on the ground, the other on my knee. But, just as I was about to push myself up off the ground, the girl stopped in her tracks and turned back around.

I froze, hopin' she didn't see me. Her eyes scanned the area, passin' right over my head... but she didn't notice me. I felt a bead'a sweat roll down my forehead as I held completely still. It felt like she stood there forever, waitin' for somethin'.

She couldn't see me, but I knew she could feel me watchin' her.

"Kayla?" Blondie's voice hollered out. It was faint; he had already covered a little distance. "You keepin' up?"

"Oh," The girl gasped, as if she forgot she had been with someone, "Yup, I'm coming!"

Then, she jogged away to catch up with her partner. This time, I waited for her footsteps to trail off a little before standin' up and takin' off after those two again.

Kayla... Kayla... I repeated the name a few times in my head. Never knew when or why I might need to remember it.

-LATER-

I must'a stalked that girl, Kayla, and her friend for at least two hours while they hunted for food.

They managed to kill two squirrels 'n a small rabbit, 'n I knew that wouldn't make much've a meal... But huntin' out here was scarce, 'n you took what you could get.

Kayla and Blondie stood under the trees with their 3 catches looped together on a string, 'n I stayed hidden. I listened as they talked to one another.

"It's startin' to get dark," Blondie observed, "We should probably head back."

The girl didn't say nothin' at first. She stayed quiet, like she was thinkin' it over in her head. It really wasn't too smart to be roamin' around after nightfall out here, or anywhere for that matter. Walkers creep up on ya twice as fast. Might as well be walkin' around blindfolded.

"Yea, you're right..." I heard Kayla finally agree, "These three will have to do. We're just gonna have to split it five ways."

Five ways? So they had more people with 'em. I knew I'd seen one; the dark haired guy in the ballcap. But I never saw the other two.. Maybe they could be a threat to our group..?

What the hell was I sayin'? Of course they were a threat... a potential threat. Everybody was these days.

But unlike the old Daryl, I didn't jump the gun. I decided to just keep my .'em. Scope 'em out.

"All right, well then let's get movin'." Blondie suggested, "We got about 2 hours left of daylight."

With that being said, he led the way,'n Kayla followed behind him as they backtracked to the camp.. unknowingly leading me the whole way there.

It didn't take long to reach their campsite, only 15 or 20 minutes. There had to'a been a shortcut thrown in'ere somewhere.

While Kayla and Blondie were still treckin' up the small incline leading to their site, I hid myself in the brush so I could look at their set up.

It was a pretty decent size, maybe about 2000 square feet all together. The boarder was marked off with the ropes I'd seen from the watchtower, strung with severed walker parts to keep the live ones away.

Near the back'a the camp, a black SUV was parked. Looked like a Jeep, but I wasn't 100% sure. The doors to the SUV were propped open, but I couldn't see inside; A blue sheet was draped over them, creatin' what I assumed was some kind'a shelter. Next to the SUV was clothes line I'd seen, 'n there was a wash bucket full'a water underneath it. In the middle of the sight was a fire that was slowly beginnin' to smolder out.

The guy with dark hair I had seen from behind my binoculars suddenly appeared from the other side'a the vehicle, 'n I crouched just a little lower in my hidin' spot.

He had a load'a branches 'n twigs in his arms, 'n he was missin' his ballcap this time. He had a scruffy face that matched his dark mop'a curly hair.

"Zach!" The girl from before, Kayla, called out as she and Blondie finally made their way to the middle of the site.

"Hey," Dark Hair, or Zach now, greeted his buddies, "Catch anything good?"

Kayla held up the string of small animals and shrugged with a discouraged look on her face. I knew how she felt.

"Better than nothing." Zach said as Kayla tossed him their catch. "Danny, do me a favor and go grab me my knife out of my front seat?"

"Gotcha." Blondie, now Danny, spoke up with a joking salute. Then, he walked over to the SUV 'n disappeared around to other side of it.

So there was Kayla, Zach, and Danny... I burned the names with the faces in my head. But that was only three, where were the other two?

"Tina and Jessie have been asleep in the Cherokee since you guys left," Zach told Kayla as Danny came back with the knife, "Why don't you go wake them up so they can help us get dinner going?"

Well, I guess that answered my question.

"Okay." Kayla agreed, walkin' over to the vehicle 'n duckin' under the sheet. Just a few seconds later, she appeared again, only this time she had two other chicks with her. One was tall and skinny but looked young, maybe 18 or 19. The other girl was shorter, with long curly blonde hair. She looked closer to Kayla's age, which I guessed was around 23. I couldn't tell you which girl was who, but that didn't really matter much at that moment.

I stuck around for a while, watchin' them interact with each other, cookin', jokin' around 'n talkin' about nothin'.

When the sun started to set, I decided I'd seen all I was gonna see from these strangers. They reminded me a lot of my own group... Just people tryin' to survive this shitty life together.

I decided I was gonna let them slide by under the radar. Just this one group, just this one time.

It was time for me to head back to home base; The prison.

But, as I started to turn away and make my way home, I heard Kayla bring up a topic'a discussion that stopped me in my tracks.

"So, those people in the prison... What are we going to do? Keep spying on them forever?"

"I don't know yet..." it was Zach's voice this time, "We'll figure it out."

Well, so much for my original thought.

-TO BE CONTINUED-

AN: ohhhmygod i'm sorry if these past few chapters have been slow or boring D: i'm just trying not to rush the story. just bear with me, once i get passed all the boring beginning stuff, its gonna be reaaaaaalllllyyyy good... trust me, daryl lovers, you will be happy (;

JUST A WARNING: i do plan on adding sexually explicit content to some of the chapters, but I will ALWAYS post a warning with instructions on how to skip over it.

soooo please if theres any of you out there actually reading [Starting Over], comment & let me know if it's good, bad, ideas, predictions... anything!

I'm always looking for new work to read and review, too! let me know if i'm just writing this to entertain myself and fulfill my own daryl fantasies... which isnt a bad thing i guess.

Thanks for reading! xx


	5. Chapter 5: Everyone Has Demons

AN:: I'd like to start Chapter 5 out by giving a big thanks to whoever left me my first review on this story. It was AMAZING! I appreciate everything you said so much, you noticed everything I wanted my readers to notice and feel, and that touches me so much as a writer. i just wish you weren't on guest! haha (: Thanks again, this chapter is dedicated to you!

Also, I want to point out that I am typing out all these chapters on my cell phone. i have no computer or internet at the moment. i do my best to proof read my writing multiple times before I publish it, but more often than not i'll look over a few spelling or grammar errors

. i apologize for that! i do catch them eventually and go in to edit them.

Oh, and I realize I have accidentally referenced wattpad in my previous author notes. I uploaded the chapters straight from that site to this one without changing that, but I'm paying more attention now.

happy reading! xx

-DARYL POV-

I tromped my way through the woods, backtrackin' from the campsite 'n racin' nightfall.

A few stragglin' walkers had sniffed me out 'n were followin' behind me as I moved. I could hear 'em gurglin' 'n growlin', catchin' up quick 'n nippin' at my heels.

The things were dead, so they didn't need to breathe; which meant they never got tired. They just kept comin', 'n they didn't stop till they were pickin' ya from their teeth. 'N that's why the best thing to do was take 'em out. I didn't mind doin' it, neither.

Once I got ahead'a the walkers a little bit, I turned on my heel 'n slammed my back into a tree trunk so nothin' could sneak up on me. The rough tree bark scraped into my bare shoulders.

I ignored the stingin' feelin', 'n kept my focus as I aimed my loaded crossbow. I squinted my left eye to get a better view'a my targets.

They were still a few feet away, but they were gainin' on me. I fired the first arrow. Bullseye! It took the head'a the pack out, 'n the body slumped over to the side.

That left me with three arrows 'n four walkers... I was one short. I'd have'ta be quick about this. My second arrow was reloaded. I aimed, fired, took out the next walker.

While the last two crept closer, I kept my eye on 'em, 'n loaded my last bow quick as lightenin'. It felt like a reflex by now.

"C'mon, you sons'a bitches..." I heard myself growl as I pointed my crossbow straight forward, just as the first walker in line opened its bloody chompers.

Perfect.

I fired the arrow, shootin' it straight up into the roof'a the walker's mouth. The point exited through the top'a its skull, lodgin' in the brain 'n killin' it instantly.

The force from the blow threw the now lifeless walker off balance, causin' it to topple backwards and crash into the still livin' one. They both hit the ground with a thud. The live walker was actually quite a bit smaller than the one I had just killed, so it was trapped.

I took a second to catch my breath, keepin' my eye on the corpse wrigglin' to get free, but it wasn't goin' no where. I slowly walked closer to it.

When the gruesome thing saw me, its milky white eyes locked onto my own blue ones. It managed to get one arm free, rippin' the skin off the bone in the process. It reached out 'n swiped for my boot, which was just outta its reach.

It squirmed 'n snapped its jaws at me, screechin' 'n hissin'... I couldn't look at it no more.

So, I lifted my knee above its head, and brought my heel down with all my force, right between the walker's eyes. The skull caved under my boot, makin' a nasty crunch. I repeated the motion, just to be safe. This time, my heel busted a gapin' hole straight through the walker's face. Blood, brain matter 'n shards'a bone splattered everywhere. Yup, it was dead.

After I scanned the area with my eyes to make sure no more walkers were headed my way, I yanked my arrows from the bodies layin' on the ground, one by one.

When they were all collected, I hooked 'em to my bow, 'n then the bow back to its strap. Everything got tossed over my shoulder, 'n I started off again. I wasn't too far off from the prison now.

It only took maybe five or six minutes to reach the treeline; I could see the huge stone building that was "home" for now.

By now the yard was full'a walkers again, stumblin' around 'n trippin' over each other. I didn't pay any attention to 'em, 'n just kept on runnin'. I made it past the lot'a the undead, dodgin' the ones that reached for my arms 'n legs. I sealed myself behind the front gate, just as one last walker grabbed for me, lettin' out a hiss.

I ignored it 'n continued across the empty cement lot. When I reached the main door we all used that led to the cafeteria, I flung it open 'n stormed inside.

Every head in the room turned at the sudden sound'a the creaky doorhinges.

When I got closer to the group, I realized Carl 'n Rick were missin'. Everyone else was huddled around Beth. She was holdin' Rick's new baby in her arms, wrapped in a blanket'n fast asleep.

At the sight'a the new life, somethin' came over me. My body relaxed, 'n I forgot how pissed I was about that camp'a spies.

"Daryl..." Carol said my name softly as she stood up from her seat next to Beth, "You disappeared... We were worried."

She gazed at me with concerned eyes. That woman had always taken a likin' to me, 'n I wasn't quite sure why. Sometimes it irritated me when she got in her clingy moods, 'n sometimes it felt like she wanted us to be more than just friends, or members of the same group.

But I just... wasn't interested. It wasn't that Carol wasn't a pretty woman or anythin'. She was sweet, lovin', and was a good mom to Sophia before... Well, she was a good mom...

But Carol wasn't very strong. She was great with a gun, but when it came down to her emotional state, Carol was like a crumblin' cookie. Even if I was lookin' for a relationship, that wasn't somethin' I wanted to deal with.

I blamed the way Carol was on her abusive scumbag husband, who died a while back. Good riddance to 'em.

I guess she clung to me 'cause she was lookin' for love, but I didn't have none'a that in me. Even before the world went to hell, I didn't believe in no love bullshit... Sex? Sure. Just like any straight man out there, I appreciated a sexy woman who lit my fire in the bedroom... Provided she was gone by sunrise. But...Love? As far as I was concerned, it didn't exit. I wasn't raised to believe it.

Growin' up, my mama was a drunk. I can hardly ever remember seein' her without a bottle'a vodka in her hands; She went through at least two'a those damn things a day... sucked 'em down like water. She never left home, 'n my scumbag father ran around on 'er every night. But really, who could blame him? The woman was mentally absent, drownin' in her liqour. She completely ignored my dad, my brother, Merle, and I, just layin' her drunk ass in bed smokin' cigarettes... And that's ultimately what killed her.

It was late one night and no one was home. My mama had drank herself stupid, just like always, smokin' a cigarette in bed. She passed out cold, 'n her cigarette caught the bedsheets. Firefighters said the fire spread so quickly, it didn't take her more than twenty minutes to burn up.

I don't remember cryin' at her funeral.

A few years before that, my drug-addicted father walked out on us. After abusin' my brother, Merle, 'n I for years 'n makin' our lives a livin'hell... He just up 'n left, disappeared. I haven't seen him since, 'n I hope the walkers tore him apart 'n ate him alive.

That left Merle 'n I alone to fend for ourselves 'n each other, 'n that's a long list'a events that I won't get into.

So, I ignored Carol's concerned eyes. I wasn't gonna tell her where I went, 'cause she didn't need to know.

"Boy er girl?" I asked in a mumble as I nodded toward the sleepin' baby.

"Girl." Beth replied, but she didn't look at me. She just smiled at the baby.

"Do you want to hold her, Daryl?" Carol asked, turnin' her face up in a smile.

I guess she had taken my hint a second ago 'n changed her attitude.

I ignored the feelin' of everyone's eyes on me, 'n gave a small nod. 'cause truth was, I did wanna hold her... 'n I had no shame in that.

I watched Beth slowly hand the baby over to Carol, who passed her into my arms. I cradled her tiny, fragile body 'n stared down at her angelic face. Amazingly, she had stayed asleep.

I felt my lips form a smile. She was precious... Made me wonder what my kid would'a looked like, if I would'a ever had one... But those days were long behind me. Never really saw myself with kids, anyway.

"Hey there, sweetheart..." I whispered to the brand new child. Her tiny lips pursed in her sleep, makin' me chuckle. "She got a name yet?"

I glanced around the room 'n saw nothin' but shoulders shruggin' 'n heads shakin'.

"Huh. Well then I think we should call her... 'Lil Asskicker."

There was a low chuckle around the room from everyone.

"We thought Rick and Carl should name her," Maggie spoke up once she stopped gigglin', "But they went off somewhere to talk a while ago."

At the mention of Rick's name, my memory of earlier was jogged. I carefully handed 'Lil Asskicker back over to Carol, then sat back 'n waited for a few minutes. When everyone slowly strayed off to their own business, I stalked over to Glenn's cell, where he was layin' on the bottom bunk with a hat over his face

"Hey," I said as I rattled my fist against the bedframe.

Glenn jumped into a sittin' position and ripped the hat from his face, starin' at me with wide eyes... Guess I must'a startled him. "You 'n me need to talk."

When I said that, Glenn's eyes went from wide 'n shocked to dazed 'n confused.

"You...Need to talk to me..." He repeated me slowly, as if he'd heard me wrong.

I rolled my eyes, but I could understand his confusion. I didn't really talk much to him or anyone else in the group, 'cept for Rick.

"Will you just get yer ass up, this is serious!"I hissed, tryin' to keep my voice low. "Just meet me at the top'a the stairwell. Bring T-Dog with ya, too."

Glenn nodded at me seriously before I walked off across the cafeteria floor 'n to the main stairwell. I climbed up to the top, which was the third cell block. I could see every inch of the cafeteria, but I was out of everyone's earshot... Just how I wanted it.

I leaned my forearms on the cold, rusty steel railin' 'n waited a minute or two. My eyes followed Glenn as he walked out of his cell 'n made his way to T-Dog, who was cleanin' one'a his guns at the far left table.

Glenn whispered somethin' to T-Dog, who glanced up at me, then nodded 'n got up from his seat.

Both of 'em had confused looks on their faces as they climbed up the stairs.

"Everything cool, Daryl...?" T-Dog asked slowly, his voice low.

Glenn didn't say nothin', he seemed like he was waitin' for me to answer T-Dog's question.

"I don't know.." I sighed, crossin' my arms over my chest.

"What's going on?" Glenn proded, "Are we in danger?"

So, I broke the news to 'em. I told 'em about Kayla 'n Danny fightin' off those walkers like it was a game, the campsite in the woods, 'n most importantly what I'd heard about those strangers spyin' on us.

Glenn and T-Dog stayed quiet, exchangin' glances at each other when I mentioned spyin'.

"...What...?" I asked as I narrowed my eyes. Somethin' was up.

Glenn looked sorta unsure for a second. He chewed on the inside'a his cheeks before finally lettin' out a tense exhale.

"You gonna show 'im?" T-Dog asked Glenn, who nodded hesitantly.

"Show me what?" I demanded lightly. What were these two hidin' from me..?

"C'mon.." Glenn mumbled, noddin' his head toward the bottom'a the stairs.

I followed the two'a 'em down the stairs 'n back into Glenn's cell.

"Stand in the doorway, T-Dog," Glenn instructed, "... Please."

T-Dog did what Glenn asked, standin' in the doorway 'n blockin' some visual.

I watched Glenn as he knealt down by the bottom bunk, liftin' up the mattress a bit. I narrowed my eyes when he pulled out... A bunch'a folded up paper?

"What-" I started to ask, but Glenn just held those papers out to me.

"Just read them." He said, gulpin' slightly.

I grabbed the papers 'n glanced over at T-Dog, who nodded. He looked real serious.

So, I unfolded the first'a three papers. There was a sentence on it spelled out in magazine clippin' letters, like a ransome note.

"Sorry 4 ur loss. There will B more."

My eyes scanned the sentence a few times. I felt my stomach twist. The note was referrin' Lori's death...

On the bottom'a the note, there was a curesive "G".

I read the second paper, written out the same way: "We R Coming 2 Visit"... followed by the same cursive "G" at the bottom.

I felt the anger boilin' in my blood as I read the last paper.

"Not 2 much longer. B Ready."... And there was that "G", right under the sentence.

"The fuck is this?" I growled, slingin' the papers across Glenn's cell.

"We don't know." T-Dog answered me. He crossed his arms and leaned his left shoulder against the door frame. "After you left today, these showed up to the prison, one after the other... We don't know where they're coming from, or who G is."

"Rick's already got enough on his plate right now, so we kept the notes to ourselves.." Glenn added in while he recollected the papers, " And now you're mentioning strangers outside watching us..."

We all looked at each other. By the looks on our faces, we were all thinkin' the same thing; connectin' the weird notes to the strangers in the woods.

So, right'ere in that cell, the three of us came up with a plan'a attack.

Now, we just had to wait for the perfect time to initiate it.

-KAYLA POV-

Two days had gone by since I'd seen the people in the prison. I checked each day for them through the binoculars, seeing nothing but walkers.

Our group had agreed that if we didn't see any of them for five days straight, we would move in on the prison and investigate. I was getting a little anxious.

Now, it was almost noon on day 3, and things around the camp had been pretty boring, to say the least.

When Danny and I came back from hunting the other night, he had to open his big mouth to Zach about our run in with the walker herd. That had earned me an earful from my brother, and he hadn't let me leave camp since... I was going nuts.

I sat with my back propped up against the front left tire of the Cherokee. My legs were outstretched and crossed in front of me, and I was trying to keep myself busy by whittling at a twig with my hunting knife.

I looked up for a second to see what my friends and brother were doing... aaaaand they were all doing the exact same thing as when I looked up before.

In the middle of camp, my brother sat cross-legged by the crackling fire. He had his baseball cap turned backwards, and a focused look on his face. He clutched a giant knife in his left hand, and a freshly caught fish in the right. He finished scaling the fish, set it down to his right, and grabbed another one from the pile of four next to his left leg. He began repeating the scaling process.

While Zach cleaned the fish, Tina set up our frying pan over the fire. Once it was set in place, she used a thick stick to poke and prod at the embers. The fire festered, the flames reaching up and licking the bottom of the frying pan, heating it so it would be nice and hot for the fish.

I got bored of watching those two really quickly, and then found my eyes settled on Danny. He was straight across camp, kicked back in an old lawn chair. He was concentrating very intently on sharpening his machete with a smooth stone. That machete had been his weapon of choice ever since he found it inside an abandoned barn in Kentucky somewhere. Whenever we had down time, he was always polishing or sharpening the blade, and sometimes it gave me an uneasy feeling.

Now was one of those times.

I tore my eyes away from Danny and began to search for Jessie. I spotted her mess of blonde curls a few yards away near the thick treeline. She was crouched with her back to me, looking down at something.

My thin eyebrows furrowed in curiosity as I craned my neck to see what she was doing. I couldn't see, so I decided to go over there. I slid my knife back into its sheath strapped to my thigh, which was exposed; I was wearing my jean shorts today, which meant I had to be extra careful if I had a run-in with walkers.

I pushed myself up off the ground and brushed the dead grass blades off the seat of my shorts. As I walked across the campsite, passing behind Tina and Zach, my brown hiking boots made scuffing sounds against the grassy forrest floor.

Danny glanced up for a split second as I passed in front of him, but quickly dropped his gaze back to the razor sharp blade in his hands.

"Boo." I said as I approached Jessie. She still had her back to me, crouching and staring at something in the bushes.

She turned her head over her shoulder to look at me. Her hair fell into her blue eyes, blocking her vision, so she reached up and tucked it behind her ear.

When Jessie finally saw me, she smiled. Her teeth were white and just a little crooked, but it was the kind of smile that was contagious. I couldn't help but flash my pearly whites when I saw it.

"Hey, bitch." Jessie greeted me.

"'Sup, hoe?" I replied in a joking tone.

Of course we were just joking. We had always called each other vulgar names, ever since we were 13 and thought it was cool to cuss. To us, it was endearing... that sounds weird.

Maybe it was just a girl thing, I don't know.

"What are you looking at?" I asked as I crouched next to my best friend of 18 years.

"Look." she whispered in return, reaching out her long, skinny tan arm and pointing at something.

I followed her gesture, staring through a gap in the thick brush and tree roots. I had to lean over a little, but I could see what Jessie was pointing at.

It was a small bush, no bigger than a school desk, or a mini fridge or something.

The bush must have just sprang into full bloom, because it was covered in vibrant, healthy looking yellow flowers. They swayed about serenely as a warm summer breeze passed through.

"They're gorgeous, huh?" Jessie asked me with a small sigh, "It feels good to know there's still at least a little beauty left in the world."

I turned my eyes away from the flower bush and looked at Jessie. She had her left elbow propped on her knee; which was drapped over with the skirt of her faded yellow sundress; and her chin rested in her palm.

The smile from before was completely gone from her face, and her eyes were glassy.

"You okay, Jess?" I asked her in a soft voice.

"Hm..?" Jessie hummed and shot her eyes over to me, like I had just ripped her out of a deep thought.

By now, my legs were starting to fall asleep from crouching so long, so I shifted my weight and sat cross-legged in the grass. I leaned back onto my palms and stared into Jessie's blue eyes.

"I said, are you okay?" I repeated again, "You've been really quiet the past few days."

And for Jessie, that was unusual. Quiet was never in the list of words I used to describe her.

In high school and what little portion of our early college years we had, Jessie and I were crazy. We were double trouble, never at a party without the other. We had tons of friends, but she was always my closest and dearest. She could make anyone laugh and brighten their day.

Jessie was still spunky and upbeat, and she usually kept the morale of our group alive with her jokes and girly squimishness. But as far as Jessie as an entire person, she was different. We all were. This world had changed us, scrubbing away our shiny outer coating and leaving only the raw core of our souls.

Life wasn't about parties, hanging out with friends and impressing guys, or going to work to earn money to pay your bills anymore.

Life was about one thing and one thing only: staying alive.

I was still staring at Jessie, waiting for her answer.

"I'm fine." She lied, but I gave her a look. I saw right through her and she knew it.

Finally, Jessie sighed in defeat.

"Okay, okay.." She said, mimicing my cross-legged position, "I guess I've just been thinking a lot lately."

"About what?" I proded on. I knew she might feel better if she talked about what was bothering her.

"Well..." Jessie sighed again, picking at the grass, "Just everything. I mean, how long do you really think we're gonna last, living like this?"

Her blunt question caught me a little off guard, but I quickly covered up my surprise by turning my lips upward into a grin.

"Hey, we're badasses." I said, and I saw just the littlest hint of a smile form on Jessie's face, "We survived a year of this hell, we can survive fifty more. We'll be shootin' walkers with bazookas while we're knitting in our rocking chairs."

Jessie giggled slightly at the sight of me miming out the motion of shooting a bazooka, complete with my own explosion sound effects.

I thought that had cured her of her gloomy mood, but after a few seconds, Jessie's giggles faded off and her face darkened again.

"But... what if I run out of inhalers...?" she looked up at me, fear in her eyes.

My smile faded now, as well.

"I've only got 5 left," Jessie continued, "I don't wanna die like that, Kayla.." Her voice began to quiver and her eyes brimmed with tears.

I scooted closer to Jessie and embraced her. She layed her head on my shoulder, and I could feel her take deep, shaky breaths to avoid crying.

Ironically, she whipped out her inhaler, shook it up, and took a deep puff. She then checked the dial on the back of the of the canister that kept track of how many puffs she had left. Jessie sighed when she saw the big, red "0".

"Now I have four left..." She muttered into my shoulder as she chucked the empty inhaler into the trees.

"Jessie, listen to me." I said firmly as I held the blonde haired, blue eyed girl out in front of me by her shoulders, "You're my best friend, and I love you to death. I won't let you run out... I can't do this shit without you."

I stared seriously at Jessie's face. A few stray tears fell from her eyes and rolled down her rosie cheeks. She lifted her hand up to wipe them away, then nodded at me.

Then, I let go of her shoulders, and held up my outstretched pinky.

"Pinky promise." I said, feeling my smile find its way back again. We had been doing this ever since we met, at age 5.

Jessie hesitated for a second, but finally she broke down and smiled. She wrapped her pinky around mine, and repeated the phrase.

Suddenly, I caught a delicious whiff of something cooking, and that was when I remembered the fish that I had seen Zach scaling.

"Hey, Kayla! Jessie!" Tina's small voice hollered out, and we each looked in her direction, "Dinner's ready!"

"Oh my god, I'm starving!" I exclaimed, shooting up to my feet.

"Me, too," Jessie agreed as I helped her up off the ground, "Smells good, Tina!"

The youngest member of our group grinned and took a bow. It had taken her a few months to come out of her shell and warm up to us, but it happened eventually. I'm sure she got tired of us teasing and nagging her about how quiet she was.

It had taken an outburst from Danny one night near the beginning of our journey for her to stick up for herself. I remember it like it was just yesterday;

We had been on the run for two weeks straight, sleeping in the Cherokee and sometimes having to flee our camping spot in the middle of the night, after only two or three hours of sleep.

All of our bodies had been running on empty; we hadn't had much for food or water in four or five days. After just barely outrunning an enormous herd of the undead, we were holed up in an old ice cream shop at 3:00 in the morning, with a few of the huge freezers baricading the door.

I can still remember gagging at the smell of sour milk; The "ice cream" was still in the vats sitting in the tanks where you would have picked your flavor before. It was weeks and weeks old, way past the point of souring and now just a blanket of green and black mold festering inside the glass.

"Man, FUCK THIS!" Danny had suddenly screamed, kicking an already overturned chair and sending it clattering across the room.

Tina, Jessie and I had jumped at the abrupt sound, but Zach had just leaned up on the counter, crossing his arms over his chest like he had been expecting Danny to flip. He was always the calmest and most collected of all of us.

"Are you trying to lure more walkers to us or something, Danny?" My brother had asked as we all watched him move onto punching the wall and bloodying his knuckles.

"I don't give a SHIT, man! I'm done runnin' like a bitch!" Danny had snarled back, turning his infuriated eyes to the rest of us, "If those things want us, then they're gonna get us. IT DON'T MATTER WHAT WE FUCKIN' DO, DOES IT?!"

At that point, Danny was slamming his fists against the freezers, provoking the monsters outside. I could hear their growls and snarls growing louder on the other side of the freezers, obviously attracted to the noise Danny was making.

"Stop it..!" Jessie had begged and tried to step up and calm Danny down, but he had shoved her away, making her stumble back into me.

"You stay the hell away from me, bitch." He had growled at her, which of course sparked my anger, combined with the fact that he had put his hands on her.

"HEY-" I had yelled back as I started reaching for my knife, but a hand on my shoulder stopped me; It was Zach, shaking his head at me, as if to say that wasn't a good idea.

"All'a ya'll, stay the hell away from me," I remember Danny pointing his finger at every one of us, lingering on Tina, who as usual hadn't said one word. "'Specially you... You don't ever say nothin', too scared to ever do nothin'... I'm surprised you ain't dead yet."

This time, it was Zach who was starting to step forward. Danny had crossed the line.

But before Zach could open his mouth to say anything, Tina snapped. She snatched a glass container full of old, stale rainbow sprinkles from the counter to her right, and chucked it with all her strength, right at Danny's head. He dodged it at the last possible second, sending it sailing across the room and smashing into the tile floor. Rainbow sprinkles scattered across almost the entire shop.

"FUCK YOU, YOU STUPID HICK PIECE OF SHIT!" Tina had exploded.

Instantly, Danny had stopped his hissy fit. I'll never forget the bright red, angry look on Tina's face as she stared Danny down, or the looks of shock that everyone else had.

But, to this day, we all respected Tina. We never picked at her again, and in turn she opened up to us. She was a sweet, bright girl; Only 18 years old, and just shy and quiet by nature. Before the apocolypse, she had been a straight A student in her High School with a full scholarship to UCLA.. But she never got a chance to make it there.

Back in reality, Jessie and I had made our way back over to camp, and were huddled around the fire with Zach, Tina and Danny, ready to enjoy a meal.

xxxx

My eyelids creaked open, revealing the interior of a vehicle around me. I felt disoriented for a second, my mind was foggy and all I could think was: "Where am I?"

Slowly, I remembered going to sleep shortly after dinner the night before.

I had fallen asleep alone in the backseat of the Cherokee, propped up against the door behind the passenger seat. But now, when I rubbed my groggy eyes and peered around me, I noticed Danny and Zach passed out in the front seats, and Jessie curled up next to me in the backseat.

I glanced over the backrest of the seat into the storage area and found Tina snoozing with her head rested on a case of water bottles.

I shifted in the uncomfortable amount of space, then peeked out the window. The sky was still mostly dark with the slightest hue of pink beginning to peek through the trees. It was early, probably about 6:00 or 6:30 AM.

I sighed, closed my eyes, and tried to force myself back to sleep.

But it was so hot... I tried to ignore it and shifted again.

My eyes snapped open to the sound of Zach suddenly choking out a loud snore... and then that started an on-going, rhythmic pattern of snoring. That was probably harder to ignore than the heat.

After waiting five minutes, Zach's snores only got louder. I sat up, staring around the cab at the other three members of my group, still fast asleep. How the hell were they not disturbed by this?

"Well, I'm up now..." I grumbled, rubbing my heavy eyelids.

Trying to be as silent as possible, I placed my hand on the doorhandle next to me and popped the door open. No one stirred.

Very slowly, I made my way out of the vehicle, and shut the door behind me. I exhaled a long breath. I was so focused on escaping from the hot, cramped up Cherokee that I hadn't realized I was holding my breath the whole time.

The fresh morning air was refreshingly cool, tingling against the exposed skin of my face, arms and legs. I stretched my arms upward, standing on my tip-toes and letting out a yawn. Then it hit me.

An intense nicotine craving.

I kicked myself mentally as I remembered I left my pack that held my cigarette stash on the floorboard of the backseat.

"Damnit.." I cursed under my breath, not wanting to open the car door again. But if I wanted a smoke, I'd have to... And I reeeeeally wanted one.

So, I bit the bullet, and slowly pulled the car door open again. Luckily, my scuffed up backpack was the one nearest me. All I had to do was unzip it, grab the cigarettes and lighter, close the door, and I was golden.

I managed to get the front pocket zipper undone almost silently. Before I could reach my hand into the pocket, Danny started to move around in the seat in front of me and to my right. The back of the seat lightly bumped against the side of my head with the shifting of his weight, and I froze. But after just a few seconds, he fell still again, and I heard his heavy breathing regulate.

I sighed in relief, then peered at my choice of smokes; Menthols, regulars, lights, bolds, kings, shorts... You name it, I had it. I didn't feel like choosing sl I snatched the first pack my hand touched, along with a lighter. Then, I shut the door one more time, as quiet as possible. Mission accomplished.

While walking away from the Cherokee, I revealed my cigarette choice to myself. Newports... Blegh. Not really my favorite, but they would do. Newports were nasty, but they did have Nicotine in them, and that's all I needed.

So, I flipped open the red and white box, grabbed a cigarette, and gently clamped it between my lips. I ignited the plain red lighter I had grabbed, and held the flickering flame up end of the cigarette. When it was burning, I slid the lighter and the cigarettes into my back pocket, and took a slow drag.

I closed my eyes as the smoke burned the back of my throat and filled my lungs. I imagined I was back home, standing on my back porch and smoking my cigarette with my mom as we exchanged chit chat. But when I exhaled the smoke and opened my eyes, I was right back in the quiet, muggy Georgia forrest, miles from what once was "home".

My cigarette burned about half way through before I decided to take a walk up to my new "spying spot".

It was a little ways away, around a corner of bushes or two, but I could get a much better view of the prison from there.

By the time I reached my new lookout point, my cigarette had burned down to the filter, and my nicotine craving had been satisfied. I flicked the butt down onto the ground, then twisted the ball of my boot against it to distinguish any remaining embers.

I fished my binoculars out of their hiding spot in the brush and held them up to my eyes, peering out through the gap in the treeline.

The sky was changing colors now. The deep magenta of morning had chased all of night time's deep blues and purples away, mixing with the molten orange glow of the sun.

It reminded me of a pool of melted pop sicles.

I scanned the lot outside the prison fencd, which was flooded with dreary undead creatures. Some of them bumped into one another without notice, others gripped and shook the fence, and a few lingered around the outskirts, standing still and staring into space.

Then, I noticed the walkers start to migrate to thw right... They were going after something living.

And that's when I spotted her; An African American woman with long dreads, hacking walkers to bloody bits with a huge samurai sword. She was making distance, headed for the prison gate.. But she didn't look so good, clutching her side like she was in pain.

I couldn't take my eyes away, watching intently as the injured woman continued to slash her way through the zombies, getting closer and closer to her goal.

She managed to hobble her way across the yard to the gate, and that's when I noticed the man in the sheriff's uniform waiting there with his son. They were both armed.

I thought they were just going to kill the woman, but to my surprise, they wasted no time in opening the gate and yanking her inside to safety, just as she blacked out and her body went limp. The young boy slammed the gate shut, locking the walkers out.

It was like watching a silent movie, and I couldn't take my eyes away. The sheriff looked the woman over and hesitantly pat her down, tossing her sword away from her. Then, he noticed a folded up piece of paper peeking out of the front pocket of her gray jeans. He carefully pulled it out and unfolded it. The sheriff's face was confused, and he seemed to read whatever was on that paper a few times over. He suddenly looked upward, waving the paper at something I couldn't see from that angle.

When I turned my gaze up to see what the sheriff was looking at, I could see the lookout platform of a tall watchtower next to the gate. Standing on the platform was the man with the grizzly redneck style. His crossbow was strapped to his back.. and he was staring at me through his own binoculars. When he suddenly pointed right at me, my breath caught in my throat as I realized I had forgot to crouch down and hide behind the brush.

I quickly ducked down and squeezed my eyes shut, cursing myself for being so stupid. When I worked up the courage to look out again, I swear my heart stopped and plumeted to my boots.

Mr. Redneck wasn't up on his perch anymore... Instead, he had climbed down and was sprinting across the yard, already halfway to the treeline.

"Oh, fuck..." I whimpered before dropping the binoculars and struggling to my feet.

I took off running, getting a little ahead of myself and tripping over my own footing.

My hiking boots thudded against the ground as I darted around the first corner of bushes, my feet nearly flying out from under me.

Just one more corner to go, and I'd be in the home stretch. I was so close, just a little farther...

Suddenly, something exploded from the trees to my right, causing me to gasp and stumble backwards.

My heart pounded in my ears and my lungs burned as I found myself face to face with a crossbow, loaded and ready to fire.

My eyes jumped from the sharp tip of the arrow to the weapon's holder... Mr..Redneck. It took me a split second to take in his entire appearence; Shaggy brown hair, cold, ice blue eyes, and a scruffy goatee. He had a little age in his masculine face, but he wasn't too old.. I guessed mid to late thirties. He was dressed in a copper colored button up that clearly had sleaves at one point in time, but not anymore, a black leather vest, a pair of jeans with a hole in the left knee, and old, faded tan work boots. He towered over my 5'3", probably at about 5'11"... and he was in shape.

I couldn't help but notice the tensed muscles in his arms as he gribbed his bow tightly.

I stood frozen in my tracks, staring the man down with an intense gaze.

His eyes were equally as cold and threatening. He stood his ground, the crossbow never wavering, not even a centimeter. After a few seconds of heavy silence, my attacker spoke up. His voice was raspy and just dripped with an intense southern drawl, much stronger than Danny's.

"Where d'ya think yer goin', little girl..?"

-TO BE CONTINUED-

AN:: whew! this chapter took me FOREVER to type out, guys... I'm so excited it's finally done! hahah (: Anyway, I hope you liked it! The story gets goooood from here on out.

Thanks for reading! xx


	6. Chapter 6: Captured

I gulped as I stood under the man's cold, heavy gaze.

"You best gimme that knife ya got there," Mr. Redneck calmly commanded, not taking his ice blue eyes off me for a second, "If ya don't wanna get hurt."

I narrowed my eyes at the man. Hand over my knife? Hell no. I didn't just give up and hand my shit over to strangers when they thought they had me beat. If I did that, I would have been out of this sick, twisted game a long time ago.

I slowly took a step back, knowing there was an incline just a few feet behind me and to my left. I just had to make it back a few more steps.

My hand instinctively inched closer to the sheathed knife strapped to my thigh, and the man's eyes dropped down to monitor what my hand was doing. There was no way I could withdraw it fast enough without him shooting me first... So I just kept inching my way back. With every step I took backward, he matched me one forward, quickly closing the distance between us.

"Don't make this any harder than it's gotta be, sweetheart." The redneck growled at me again, and I made a disgusted face at how demeaning the word 'sweetheart' sounded when he said it, "Yer caught."

The hell I was.

I glanced to my left. I could see the incline now. Damn, it was a lot steeper than I thought... but it was my only escape. If I could get far enough away from this guy and lose him in the woods, I'd just loop around in a circle back to camp, and tell the others we had to leave, now.

"Hear me, girl?" I heard that raspy southern drawl again, and I turned my eyes back to him, "Don't even think about runnin'... I don't wanna hafta chase after ya."

I stayed perfectly still for just a moment more, before diving to my left, crashing through the brush and tumbling down the steep incline. I did my best to tuck and roll, but I honestly couldn't tell if it was helping at all.

"Son of a bitch...!" I vaguely heard the redneck curse, but soon all I heard was a sharp ringing in my ears from the violent, repetitive tumbling motion.

Rocks, twigs, and tree roots battered me from every angle, scratching and bruising my body. By the time I hit level ground again, I had gained so much momentum that I skidded across the grass, slamming to a sharp halt as my body collided with a thick, mossy tree trunk.

The harsh impact knocked the wind out of me, and a strained "oomf" crawled from the bottom of my throat as my lungs shriveled up. I choked and sputtered as I layed there on the ground, watching my world spin around me, even though I knew I was motionless. It was impossible to tell which way was up.

Up... I had to get up, I was being hunted down at that very moment. I needed to run, as much as I knew I couldn't with my equilibrium thrown so off balance, and my lungs still gasping desperately for oxygen; But in a world of life and death, you had to make the impossible happen.

So, with a determined groan, I forced myself up off the ground... But as I strained my abdominal muscles, I felt a sharp, stinging pain just above my belly button. I gasped a little bit as my hand flew to the area, feeling something warm and sticky through a rip in my pale yellow tank top. I kept my hand there as I forced my legs to hoist my body up the rest of the way, leaning my back against the tree trunk. I closed my eyes and took a couple short, shaky breaths before pulling my hand away from my stomach, and glancing downward at it. I already knew what I was about to see.

And I was right. My fingers were coated in a thick, bright red liquid; Blood from a fresh gash on my stomach, right above my belly button, about four and a half inches long... And it was a deep one, too. I winced at the sight of it, figuring something must have ripped my tank top during my fall, slicing my skin in the process.

"Shit..." I breathed as I squeezed my eyes shut and layed my head back against the tree's mossy bark.

The dizzyness had calmed a little, but not completely. My legs felt like jello, trembling and wobbling weakly beneath me. Slowly, my adrenaline wound down and all the pain from the scratches, bumps and bruises from the tumble hit me at once like a punch in the face.

I gasped as I suddenly heard the sound of footsteps crashing through the woods, coming my way. It was him, I knew it was; Those footsteps were too fast and precise to be a walker's. I knew I had no more time to waste, so I mustered up every last ounce of strength and will power I had left, and I took off running. I didn't exactly know which way I was going, but I didn't exactly have much of a choice, either. That redneck was hot on my heels, I had one pathway available, and I was taking it.

My lungs were running on empty as I pushed my body forward, still struggling to recooperate from the harsh evacuation of oxygen that the tree trunk had caused just a few minutes before. My legs and feet grew numb and heavy as they pounded the earth below me. It was as if my body was running on cruise control, responding only to my will to leave.

The wound across my midsection burned intensely for the first few moments of running, but as the air rushed over it the blood began to slow and clot, leaving a dry, crusty stain across my skin... blegh.

Even through the combination of my pounding heart and the deafening ringing in my eardrums, I could hear the footsteps behind me, crashing louder and gaining closer through the brush.

I let out a small whimper, willing my already exhausted body to go just a little faster... but it just wasn't happening. I was already maxed out. My lungs wheezed and I started to feel light headed, but I wasn't stopping. If I was going to die today, I was going down with a fight.

But I really hoped I wasn't going to die today...

I clenched my jaw, pushing my legs to carry me around a cluster of trees obstructing my path. But I had taken the turn too sharply; My noodle-like legs stumbled to the side, and I felt my ankle sink into something rough and thick... And sharp.

Whatever it was clung to my boot, wrapping halfway up my exposed calf, and what felt like a thousand razorblades clung into my skin. It yanked my leg as my body kept with the forward inertia, and the next thing I knew I had crashed down face first into the dirt and grass. I yelped in pain, not only from the horrible sensation in my calf, but also from my stomach scraping roughly on the ground, reopening the wound. As I shakily pushed my body into a sitting position, I could see a red skid mark on the ground from where I had just been laying.

A thin stream of fresh blood began dripping down to the hem of my now filthy jean shorts, and the intense stinging sensation hit me all over again. I had to grit my teeth and bear it, though... Because I had a bigger problem.

My leg had been snared in a massive, overgrown thorn bush. The gigantic thorns growing off the thick vines looked more like shark teeth, and they were razorsharp. Hundreds of them dug themselves into my boot, and the vines twisted and wrapped themselves up to my calf, the thorns piercing deep into my skin.

I was stuck, and I was stuck good. I just couldn't catch a break today...

I tried simply pulling my leg free, mostly for shits and giggles. I knew damn well that wasn't going to work, and I was right. I could barely move an inch without yelping at the thousands of sharp, cutting sensations. My brain automatically stopped all movement in my leg, minus a little trembling. Blood dripped from the places where the thorns dug into me, working themselves deeper and deeper with each second. This was just fucking great.

I knew I had to cut myself free, and I had to do it fast. I reached for my knife, grabbed the handle, and pulled... but there was resistence. My stomach fluttered; That wasn't right... usually the sharp blade slid right out of the sheath like butter.

I pulled again. Nothing. Yanked as hard as I could, still nothing.

"What the hell?" I cursed in a frustrated tone.

This just added more fuel to the fire. My knife must have gotten jammed into the sheath during the fall somehow... And that knife was my only weapon. This plan of mine was completely back firing on me... Things couldn't get much worse.

But as I heard the bushes begin to rustle loudly in the direction I had been headed, I froze. I zeroed in on the sound of stumbling, uneven footsteps drawing closer... A walker.

I spoke too soon. Things had just gotten worse. Way worse.

I stared in horror over my shoulder as the walker emerged from the bushes. It was a man, or what used to be a man... He was average height and had a stocky build. He was dressed in dirty, ripped up camo gear, and on his neck was a huge, gaping wound; A bite. He must have been on a hunting trip in these woods when all hell broke loose... Ironically, he ended up becoming the one hunted down.

I held completely still, my breath stuck frozen in my lungs. My eyes never left the walker, who was still turned away from me a few yards ahead, gurgling and wheezing. I silently willed the undead beast away, begging it to keep on going on its path inside my head.

But suddenly, the walker's cloudy eyes widened, and it began to sniff the air vigorously. It was locked onto something, and as it slowly turned its head to look straight at me, I realized what it had locked onto. It was attracted to the blood seeping from the gash on my stomach, drawn to it like a shark to chum in the ocean.

My heart raced as the walker took its first wobbly step toward me, reaching its arms out in hunger. Its mouth hung open under its scruffy beard, which was crusty with blood and decomposing flesh... That was about to be my blood if I didn't figure out how to get myself free from the thornbush's painful grasp.

So, with fearful tears filling my eyes and streaming down my cheeks, I frantically turned back to my leg. I had no choice but to tear at the vines with my bare hands. That turned out to be easier said than done... That shit was tough, like Mother Nature's barbed wire. The thorns pierced the delicate skin of my fingers, slicing them up and drawing more blood.

I let out a sob as I heard the walker's scuffling feet growing closer, and its hungry moans escalating into roars. The pain I felt in my fingers was definately slowing me down, wasting time I didn't have.

I felt like I could puke as I came to the grim realization that there was no way I'd be able to break free in time... But I didn't quit. Like I always promised myself, I'd keep fighting till the end.

By now, the walker was right behind me. I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling its presence at my back. I whimpered, awaiting the horrible, agonizing death that was inevitable at this point... This was it, I was going to die.

Devoured by a walker, a single walker, all because of some angry redneck...

*swish* ... *thud* ...

Suddenly, there was the sound of something cutting through the air just above my head, followed shortly by the sound of a heavy body collapsing to the ground.

Then, it was quiet. Completely quiet. I slowly opened my eyes, and turned my head over my shoulder. The walker was now lifeless on the ground behind me; Its left arm had been trapped under the body, snapped and exposing the rotten bone.

Its horrid face was frozen with its mouth agape, and lodged in one of its wide eyes was a black arrow with red and green feathers at its tail end.

My ears perked up at the sound of a twig snapping, and I whipped my head around again, tossing the lower half of my long french braid from side to side.

My eyes were met with a pair of legs, covered by a pair of faded jeans with a hole in one knee. At the bottom of the jeans was a pair of dusty tan work boots, and as my eyes trailed upward I was met with the stone cold gaze of Mr. Redneck. I quickly reached up and wiped my tears away, smearing dirt and blood on my cheeks in the process.

His crossbow was gripped in his left hand, which hung by his side. The arrows loaded into the bow were black with green and red feathers... just like the one that had killed that walker.

Did he just... save me? I was a little confused and I'm sure that showed on my face as I stared up at the man.

He gave me a once over, flashing his eyes over my damaged body, before narrowing them and pursing his lips in a slight sneer.

"Stupid girl.." He muttered while stepping around me. The sound of his footsteps shuffling around the walker's body filled my ears, followed by the sickening *crack* of the arrow being swiftly yanked from the decomposing skull.

I heard the redneck stand again, and the soft *click* of the arrow being reloaded into the crossbow.

I stared blankly into the trees. He had me. I was trapped, completely defenseless without my weapons. I was honestly expecting him to just point the crossbow at the back of my head, and *POP* ... Finish me right there. I mean, it really would have been that easy.

But to my surprise, the man slung the crossbow over his shoulder on its strap, and crouched down beside me with his masculine forearms rested on his knees. He peered down at the tangled mess snaring my ankle, examining the damage.

Then, he turned his scruffy face back towards me, and I found myself looking him in the eyes once more.

"Told ya not to run." He spat at me simply.

I blinked my heterochromial eyes.

"...Excuse me...?" I managed to choke out. My voice was strained and raspy.

"Why didn't ya just cut yerself loose?" He asked, ignoring my question. As if cutting myself loose wasn't completely obvious.

"Do you think I'm an idiot? That was the first thing I tried to do." I defended myself.

"Well, you were dumb enough to run from me," The man countered, his voice low, "'N look what ya got yerself into. You tell me who's the idiot here."

I stayed quiet as he stared into my eyes in an intimidating, challenging mannor. After a second, I realized arguing with a total stranger was pointless, as stubborn as I was... But this guy seemed like he one upped me in the stubborn department.

"...My knife's stuck." I said to him curtly, my eyes narrowed.

The redneck glanced at the knife strapped to my thigh inside the sheath. He suddenly reached for it, and my reaction was to flinch away. The sudden motion caused the vines to wrap themselves tighter around my leg.

"Ah...!" I gasped at the sharp pain.

The redneck gave me a look.

"You gonna let me grab that knife now?" he asked me, sounding annoyed, "'Cause I ain't got one on me, so it's lookin' like that's the only way yer gettin' cut loose... 'Less you'd just prefer I leave ya here fer walker chow. Don't matter much to me."

I didn't say anything, just stared at him with intensity. He stared right back, widening his eyes a little as if to coax an answer out of me.

I couldn't seem to figure out what this man's intentions were, no matter how hard I studied him. Usually I was pretty good at reading people... But this guy was pretty difficult. There was just... nothing in his eyes or his voice, except for the slight hint of anger or annoyance every now and again.

He obviously wasn't trying to kill me, at least.. not yet. I mean, he did kill that walker, saving my life, when he could have just skipped a step and shot me instead. And now it seemed like he was even trying to help me... despite how rude he was about it.

But if he wasn't trying to kill me, why did he bother to chase me all this way? Maybe he wanted to-

My body tensed as I suddenly felt the roughness of his finger tips graze the soft skin of my thigh as he went for my knife again. My eyes widened and shot to his face, which didn't look up from the knife.

"Relax..." The redneck grumbled as he fiddled with the blade inside the sheath, "I ain't interested in none'a that."

I felt my cheeks flush in embarrasment. But could he really blame me for reacting that way? In a world like this, with no more law or concrete definition of wrong and right, a man could get away with anything he wanted.

As wrong as it felt, something somewhere in my body urged me to trust the redneck, just for these few moments. So, my muscles relaxed a little bit as the man wiggled the blade around in its sheath. I kept a sharp eye on his hands as they worked, while simultaneously keeping a look-out for any approaching walkers. So far, it was clear.

After an awkward minute or two, I heard a *click* from my knife's sheath. Mr. Redneck slid the blade out effortlessly, holding it up for me to see. I stared at him a moment, chewing the inside of my cheek.

"Well, thank you." I said sarcastically, "That reeeally helps me out now."

"I ain't tryin' to help you out," The man informed me while flashing me a sneer, "I'm tryin' to figure out why you were spyin'. But we'll get to that later."

With that, he began sawing at the thick vines, and I clenched my teeth as I felt the thorns being quickly ripped from my skin. I fought back the urges to wince and yelp at the sharp, repetitive stinging sensations. I didn't want to look like a little bitch in front of this guy.

I stayed quiet while the man cut through and tossed away all the vines that had been hooked to my skin. Now he was focusing on untangling my boot, and as he worked I couldn't stop thinking about my brother and my friends... I had to get back to them.

Finally, Mr. Redneck snapped the last leathery vine, and I was free. With the vines absent, the damage they'd done didn't look too bad. The man slid my knife into his back pocket, and stood up.

"C'mon." He barked an order, motioning for me to stand up.

I was about to protest the confiscation of my only weapon, but I clamped my lips shut and stopped myself... It was pointless to argue, or try to get my knife back. He had the upper hand on me, as much as I hated accepting it.

After I hesitated for too long, the man gave me an aggravated look.

"What're ya waitin' for, girl? Snow?" The redneck demanded impatiently.

Slowly, I stood to my feet, ignoring my wobbly legs and all the aches and pains my body was screaming out at me.

"Where are we going...?" I asked while skeptically narrowing my eyes.

"That way." He grunted his simple reply, nodding in the direction we had both just come from.

I scowled at him. He knew that wasn't the answer I wanted... Never the less, I swallowed my pride and tromped off in the direction he had pointed me.

It made me sick, letting someone control me like this. I kept telling myself this would never have happened if I would have remembered even just one of my guns. The thought was supposed to make me feel better, but really it just made me more angry at myself for walking away from camp unprepared.

Then again, I hadn't exactly been expecting to get ambushed at six o'clock in the morning, either.

Mr. Redneck and I trudged along for a few minutes in silence, minus the occasional "left" "right" or "straight" he would instruct from behind me. As we progressed further, the path started to look familiar... That's when I spotted the binoculars I had abandoned earlier that morning, laying on the ground up ahead and to the right.

My stomach jumped as I saw them... No wonder the path looked so familiar. That was my look out spot! I could see the prison in the distance as we passed by. We were heading back to camp, and this guy was having me lead him straight to it.

Sure enough, as we walked a few more feet, I could hear familiar voices; Of all of them, Zach's was most prominent.

"WHERE'S MY SISTER?!" His voice bellowed out, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER, YOU BASTARDS?!"

Upon hearing my brother's distress, I instinctively called out to him.

"Zach!" My voice erupted from my throat, sounding a bit more quivery than I'd wanted it to.

"Kayla?!" Zach hollered, his tone morphing from furious to hopeful, "Where are you?!"

Just as Zach finished his sentence, I came around the corner of bushes, Mr. Redneck following close behind with his crossbow at my back.

I could see the camp in clear view, just about 10 yards away now.

Tina, Zach, Jessie, and Danny were all huddled together with their backs against the side of the Cherokee. Two men stood in front of them, armed with automatic assault rifles. In the middle of our camp, every gun and knife we owned lay in a pile. Next to it, the boxes of ammo.

When the two men heard our footsteps approaching, they turned around. As I drew closer, I took a look at each of their faces. I recognized them both; It was the African American man with the thick football player's physique, and the young asian man, who looked a bit timid and unsure of himself. I assumed taking hostages wasn't usually on his daily agenda.

When the redneck and I got close enough, I lunged for my brother, who grabbed for me and held me out at arms length as I sat down. He looked me up and down, taking in all my injuries.

"Its not so bad," I fibbed as a glare plastered itself on Zach's face.

"Did that son of a bitch touch you, Kayla..?"My brother demanded from me in a sharp growl.

I shook my head, about to speak, when Mr. Redneck spoke up in my place.

"Stupid girl did that to 'erself," He said, "Don't go blamin' me fer that mess."

My older brother glared daggers at the man as he spoke, and I followed suit. That redneck sure was cocky...

"Okay, I know I've asked this question like three times already... But maybe if I ask again, someone might actually answer me." Danny snapped, "Who the hell are you guys?"

After listening to Mr. Redneck's heavy southern drawl, I could barely notice Danny's slight twang. When I looked at his face, as well as everyone else in my group, I could see the bags under their eyes, their rumpled clothes and frayed hair... They all looked exhausted. Those two men must have woken them up with guns in their faces.

I felt an ember of anger start to burn in the pit of my stomach as I visualized that thought. Even though my group got on my last nerve sometimes, I was extremely protective of them.

They were my family, everything I had.

"Well, we're here to ask you guys the same question." The asian man replied to Danny. The tough tone in his voice sounded a little forced.

"...Do you want liiiiike, introductions, or something...?" Zach asked. His voice was sarcastic and annoyed. Through my experience growing up with him, I knew he was just cranky... Probably hungry, too.

"Cut the bullshit, man." The redneck suddenly snapped at my brother, "Who the hell's 'G'? Which one'a ya?"

We all just stared at the grizzly man as his blue eyes passed over each one of us.

"I honestly have no fucking idea what-" My brother countered, but the redneck caused him to stop his words short by rolling his eyes and stalking over to the African American man.

"Gimme those damn papers, T-Dog," He grumbled a demand.

Okay, T-Dog. I could remember that.

T-Dog dropped one hand from his gun and patted his front pocket, then the back. Then he switched hands and checked the pockets on the other side while Mr. Redneck waited impatiently.

"I don't have 'em," T-Dog finally concluded, "Glenn must have 'em."

At the mention of his name, the asian man (or now Glenn) began to pat down the right side of his vest, holding his gun with one hand. After a second he tucked his free hand into the vest, pulling out a roll of white papers held together by a thin rubber band.

"Sorry," Glenn stammered, "Here they are."

The redneck snatched the roll of paper from Glenn, tossing it into Zach's lap as he turned around.

"Those look familiar?" He barked at us accusingly.

Zach ignored him as he rolled the rubber band upwards, letting the papers unravel in his hands. All of us leaned into Zach a little bit, examining the notes with him.

None of the short sentences spelled out in magazine clippings made sense, but they were definately threatening.

As Zach flipped through the papers numerous times, I noticed that each of them was signed at the bottom with a loopy, capital cursive 'G'. Slowly, my mind put two and two together, and my eyes widened. I turned my gaze up towards our three attackers.

"Wait, so you guys are out here because you think we sent these?" I asked in slight disbelief.

"Who else would it be?" T-Dog asked with a glare in my direction. As he spoke, I noticed a small gap in his front teeth. "There's no one else around here for miles."

"Well, it wasn't us." Tina spoke up.

"Yea, we've never seen any of you in our lives!" Danny agreed. That was a bit of a white lie... Although I had seen them a bit more than everyone else.

"Tell that to the one'a ya I caught spyin' on us." The redneck hissed, burning his narrow eyes into me.

I gulped as I felt everyone in the group glance at me, and my eyes shifted between their waiting faces. Finally, I let out a long sigh.

"Okay, so maybe I was... spying..." I confessed sheepishly, "I was just curious, that's all..."

I decided to leave out the part about our plan to wait five days without seeing their group before moving in on the prison. I had a feeling that comment wouldn't have gone over very well. Plus, that plan was pretty much washed down the drain by now, anyway.

"Daryl, I really don't think they know anything..." Glenn said softly to the redneck.

My ears perked up. Aha; Daryl. That was his name... It fit him quite well, actually.

"People'r real good at lyin' 'ese days..." Daryl said back, as if we weren't sitting three feet away. His narrow blue eyes burned with a look of warning as he spoke.

"Uuh, we're actually not lying..." Jessie tried to put her two cents into this whole mess, but she was just ignored and talked over.

"So what about that woman who just showed up at our gate a little while ago?" T-Dog continued interrogating us, "You ever seen her before?"

We all stared up at him quizically, slowly shaking our heads in confusion... But I was faking it, because unlike the others, I had seen her.

"She looked like she was coming right from this direction," Glenn added in, as if that might jog one of our memories.

"We were all sleeping.." Tina pointed out defensively, "You guys came and woke us up... How could we have seen her?"

T-Dog and Glenn glanced at each other thoughtfully, as if having forgotten about this small but important detail until now.

"Not you."

I felt the grizzly redneck's eyes on me yet again, and I looked up at him.

"Huh...?"

"You weren't sleepin'," Daryl clarified, "That's exactly when I caught ya spyin'. You tryin' to tell me you didn't see 'er when she came through?"

"I-I saw her, but it was through the binoculars," I defended myself quickly, "I swear, she was already half way to the gate. I didn't hurt her or send her there!"

Daryl's eyes flickered up and down, as if sizing me up.

"She's got a nasty cut in 'er side... 'N you got that knife on ya." He growled darkly.

My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe this, I was innocent! No matter what I said, this Daryl guy was hell bent on making sure I was the evil villain he was .

"Are you fucking serious?!" I screeched, having scrambled up to my feet without really thinking about the two assault rifles and crossbow pointed in our faces.

"Sit down, girl..." Daryl growled menacingly, threatening to release weapon, "'Less you want an arrow in'a leg."

T-Dog and Glenn aimed their barrels straight at me as well, with their fingers on the triggers, ready to fire if necessary.

"HEY!" Zach roared, beginning to shoot up to his own feet, "You lay one finger on her and I'll fucking kill ALL of you...!"

Jessie begged for Zach to stop as our three attackers tensed just a little bit more. She reached up and tugged on his arm but he violently shrugged her off.

"Ya'll better just simmer down now, 'fore someone gets hurt." Daryl commanded, motioning his crossbow toward the ground, "Sit."

I glanced at the three men threatening to open fire on us, then up to my brother's face. His rugged jaw was clenched, his lips forming a tense, thin line.

Zach's brow was furrowed in anger, and his hazel eyes burned furiously, staring about wild and crazy. His broad shoulder had wedged itself infront of me, his arm draped over the front of my body protectively.

My heart softened for a brief moment as I realized my big brother really would take a bullet... or maybe even an arrow... for me, in a heartbeat.

"I ain't gonna tell ya again.." Daryl persisted, "Sit. Now."

With that, I tugged on Zach's arm as I slowly sat down. He reluctantly followed my example, and sat down next to me, keeping his eyes glued to the three men in front of us the entire time.

When they were sure Zach and I were calm, T-Dog, Glenn, and Daryl began whispering back and forth to each other.

"So what are we going to do with them...?" Glenn asked first.

"Maybe we should just let 'em go," T-Dog suggested, which sounded like a good plan to me, "They seem pretty innocent."

But Daryl shook his head of shaggy, light brown hair.

"Nah," He scoffed, "I'm takin' 'em to Rick. He's good at gettin' the truth outta people... let him decide what to do with 'em."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Glenn said nervously, "Rick's-"

"I don't give a god damn," Daryl snapped, cutting Glenn off, "Rick's still the leader'a this group, 'n I ain't leavin' 'im in the dark about a pack'a spyin' strangers in'a woods."

Rick...? Some guy named Rick was apparently their leader, and it seemed like Daryl had a lot of respect for him.

I wondered to myself if Rick was that man in the Sheriff's uniform...?

Without a word more from anyone else, we all watched while Daryl tore down the blue sheet that was folded on top of the Cherokee, where it had been waiting to be set up again for the day... Looked like that wouldn't be happening anymore, though.

He unfolded the sheet and flicked it a few times before laying it overtop our pile of weapons and ammo, bundleing them all up and tying a sturdy knot to secure them inside, all in one swift motion.

With the smallest of grunts, Daryl hoisted the make-shift sack of weapons over his shoulder with one hand, while his crossbow hung at his side in the other. As he walked back toward us, there was no strain in his face; As if he were hauling a sack of feathers, not pounds of steel.

He then ordered my group and I to stand up, and start walking forward in a single file line. Not knowing what else we could do, we simply obeyed and began walking.

My stomach jumped and churned as we led the three men away from our camp and through the trees with their weapons at our backs.

The prison came into my view, and my heart started to race as I took in the sight of the enormous set of cement and brick buildings. Within twenty minutes, we would be inside those walls, defenseless with no weapons, on potential enemy grounds.

It was safe to say that none of us knew what to expect.

-TO BE CONTINUED-

AN:: ANOTHER CHAPTER DOWN! and Ive already got 3/4 of the next rough draft written out; Just gotta finish that up and type it out. Should be up in a day or two :D

Thank you so much to everyone who is giving my story a shot (: almost 200 reads, i'm happy! i love writing this story and the characters i've created so much; i feel such a strong connection to this plot, and im finding myself staying up all night writing, typing, and correcting these chapters so that they're absolutely perfect in my eyes... This is the first story ive ever written in which the ideas have flowed together so smoothly inside my head;; ive even got some pretty solid ideas for a prequel AND a sequel (;

so, if you're in this with me for the long run, speak up! let me know who my lovely readers are... i love hearing from ya'll! motivates me even more to keep going! i appreciate all your support x

Till next time, fellow Daryl lovers! xx


	7. Chapter 7: Friend or Foe?

When we entered the prison, Daryl led us across a large, empty cement lot, which was littered with old garbage and even a few walker bodies. It looked like the group had cleared most of the corpses out, but I could still see a few dark red bloodstains where they had collapsed to the concrete.

Eventually we reached a large door in the center building, which was just an enormous rectangle made of old, rusty colored bricks. A few long, cloudy glass windows lined the top of the building near the roof, and over to the right I could see a dark spot of mildew underneath where an old pipe had busted, probably dripping water on the bricks for years and years.

Daryl instructed our group of five to wait outside with Glenn and T-Dog while he went inside to warn Rick that we were there.

Great, a public showing...

He was only gone for about two or three minutes, but every second of waiting there was extremely awkward, tense and uncomfortable. By now, it had to be somewhere around 8:00 in the morning, and the hot Georgia sun was beating down hard, with not a single cloud in the clear blue sky to block its rays.

It was so hot, I felt like I could see my tan growing darker by the second. But I was used to harsh weather conditions by now. Compared to struggling against hypothermia in the bitter winter, a little blistering summer heat was nothing.

Finally, the creaky door swung open again, revealing Daryl standing in the frame.

"C'mon," He muttered, nodding his head toward the inside of the building.

My stomach twisted into a knot as we were paraded into a huge open room with a few tables and chairs, and stairwells on either side of us that led to an upper floor. There were cell blocks surrounding us, all around the boarder of the room, which looked like a cafeteria. I could picture a mass of burly prisoners crowding in this room in their jumpsuits and eating at the tables, before everything turned.

Just as I thought would happen, all eyes were instantly on us. The entire prison group hung around the cafeteria, scattered about and eyeing us skeptically. And, really, who could blame them? But still, it was a little off-putting...

In the middle of the huge cafeteria stood the man in the sheriff's uniform. He waited with his shoulders square and his head of curly brown hair held up high. A beefy silver revolver hung at his side in his right hand. He definately gave off the vibe of a leader.

As we approached, I noticed the man's eyes were almost the same piercing blue as Daryl's. His gaze was cold and intense, and his jaw was clenched, the tension showing through his scruffy five o'clock shadow.

I felt a tremendous, crushing pressure as we came to a stop in front of the man, who I could only assume was Rick. And when Glenn spoke up from behind me, I got my answer.

"Here they are, Rick.." He said quietly, "This is all of them... They say they don't know anything."

"Because we don't-" I turned and snapped at the young asian man, but Zach cut me off by reaching up and slapping my arm, giving me a look as if to say shut-the-fuck-up. I whirled my head back around to see Rick's fierce, blue eyed gaze locked onto me.

I instantly regretted opening my big mouth.

"That's the little peepin' tom right'ere," Daryl scoffed, obviously talking about me, "Caught 'er from the guard tower."

My stomach dropped to my knees at the feeling of being completely thrown under the bus... I was humiliated.

"You guys just look like a bunch of kids..." Rick muttered as he raised one eyebrow slighty, studying all of our faces, "All right, well this is how it's gonna work. Quick pat down- You confiscated their weapons, didn't you?" Rick averted his eyes behind us.

"No shit." Daryl grumbled back, and I heard the heavy sack of weapons hit the floor with a *thunk* .

"Good, so a quick pat down, then these four," He motioned to my brother and three friends, "Go in that holding cell with our other guest. As for you," He looked at me intently, "You'll stay out here... We're gonna have a little talk, after we get you some medical attention. That's a nasty cut you got there... Infection'll kill ya quicker than any walker could."

As I listened to his voice, I noticed that he, too, spoke with a southern drawl. It still wasn't nearly as strong as Daryl's, but definately noticeable.

So, just like Rick had said, he walked up to Danny, who looked a little nervous, and began lightly patting him down. Then, he moved onto Zach, repeating the same motion.

When he was certain they had nothing dangerous on them, he gave them a small nod, then turned to the far left corner of the cafeteria. The young woman with the short golden bob sat at a long fold out table in that area, sorting through a pile of clothes.

Across from her sat the older woman with the buzzcut hairstyle. She had a torn blouse in her hand, stitching it up with a needle and thread.

"Maggie, Carol." Rick projected his voice in their direction, and he motioned for them to come over when they looked up from their work.

They set the clothes aside, and stood up from the table. I didn't know which of them was Carol and which was Maggie, but I figured I'd find out soon enough.

The two women approached Jessie and Tina first, flashing them apologetic looks as they gently patted them down. When they cleared, the younger woman made her way over to me.

Her green eyes gave me the same apologetic look as she began to pat me down. She glanced up at me when she saw the gash.

"Ouch, that really is a nasty cut..." She muttered as she scrunched up her freckly nose, "Nothin' my daddy can't fix, though." Of course, she had a southern accent of her own.

She nodded her head over her shoulder towards the old man with the white beard, sitting on the righthand stairwell of the cafeteria.

I studied her face as she finished patting me down. She looked a little older than me, maybe two years or so... And she was actually very pretty. She looked really young to be that old man's daughter, but I didn't question it.

Finally, the girl stepped back, giving Rick a nod; A signal that I was safe.

Rick stuck to his plan, tossing Daryl a set of keys. The redneck then led Danny, Zach, Tina and Jessie away from me and to the back of the cafeteria. They disappeared around the corner, and I was alone... Alone in a room full of strangers.

Suddenly, I felt scared... I could hear my heart beat pound in my ears as everyone in the room stared at me.

"First thing's first," Rick spoke up, breaking the silence, "Let's get that cut cleaned up. Doesn't look like you'll need stitches, but we'll let Hershel be the judge of that."

I gulped slightly and followed behind Rick, after giving him a small, meek nod in place of a response.

The Sheriff led me over to the stairwell where the old man was sitting. I stared at his face and repeated Hershel in my head to make it stick.

"Can ya fix her up real quick, Hershel?" Rick asked the old man, who gave me a once over with his dark brown eyes.

"Boy, that's a good little scratch..." Hershel mumbled while squinting his eyes at my stomach. "What happened to ya, honey?"

Hershel spoke to me like I was a daughter or a granddaughter, not a criminal like Rick and Daryl had made me feel... His gentle tone of voice was very soothing.

"Mr. Man over there decided it would be fun to chase me through the woods with his crossbow..." I grumbled my response as I caught sight of Daryl coming back around the corner, keys in hand. "I fell a few times... It's not as bad it looks."

"Well, we'd better find out for sure." Hershel said as he pushed himself up off the stairs

The old man held himself up with one hand on the steel railing, reaching for a pair of wooden crutches with the other.

As I patiently watched Hershel steady himself on the crutches, my eyes dropped down to his leg... or lack there of...

It was his right leg, amputated just below the knee; Hence why he needed crutches.

I figured it might be rude to ask him how that happened, so I settled on lightly chewing my bottom lip and imagining the possibilities myself. I fought back the urge to grimace at the thoughts that followed.

When Hershel got going on the crutches, it actually looked pretty fluid. He moved at a regular pace, like it came natural to him.

I didn't have to slow my stride at all as I followed him across the cafeteria floor. He led me to a row of cells that faced a wall with a large, barred window. Outside the window, I could see the cement lot, and the walkers milling about on the other side of the fence.

The morning sun casted natural beams of light through the glass, high-lighting the floating dust particles that they touched.

Hershel ducked inside the second cell, and I followed behind, cautiously slowing my steps. When I peeked through the bars and saw Hershel preparing bandages and antibiotics, my mind felt a little more at ease.

I stepped inside the cell, taking Hershel's attention away from the medical supplies for a moment.

"On the bed is just fine," He said, nodding toward the bunk bed behind him, "Go ahead."

I followed his instruction, sitting down on the bottom bunk. The mattress pad was thin, but it provided just enough cushioning from the steel bars of the bedframe

Hershel turned and manuevered himself into a sitting position on a stool next to the bed. On his lap was a metal tray, and ontop of the tray was a small squirt bottle half way filled with a clear liquid, a clean, dry towel, a sheet of gauze padding and a roll of bandages.

He paused and took a look at my upright position.

"It'll probably be easier if you lay back, dear." The old man advised me.

"Oh, um...okay..." I stammered, hesitantly laying back on the small mattress.

I tried not to let Hershel notice how stiff with nervousness my body was.

"Let's have a look at the damage here..." He mumbled while lifting my tank top just above the wound.

My face flushed as I awkwardly stared up at the bottom of the bunk above me while Hershel examined the severity of the gash.

"Well, you're in luck," He announced after a few moments, "I don't believe you'll be needing stitches. Just a good antiseptic and fresh bandages for a few days should do the trick."

Hershel's disagnosis sent a wave of relief washing over me. Stitches were the last thing I wanted to deal with, ontop of everything else.

Hershel then grabbed the small spray bottle and held it above my stomach. He paused and glanced up at me.

"Now, you'll feel a little sting," He warned me, "This antiseptic is pretty strong."

I nodded, and Hershel began spritzing the liquid across my midsection. At first, it felt like a cool, refreshing mist... But as it soaked into the gash, it felt like fire had been set to my skin. I gritted my teeth and dug my nails into the mattress pad to keep from crying out in pain

A little sting? Bullshit, that fucking hurt..

But the worst was over. Hershel patted off the excess moisture around the wound, and I let out an exhale as the intense burning sensation faded into a light, tingly sting. Hershel started to unravel the gauze padding, snipping it into the right shape with a pair of scissors.

"Well, you already know my name," the old man spoke to me in a friendly tone, "But I don't know yours." he smiled at me as he placed a layer of gauze over my stomach, then beginning to cut another piece just like it.

"It's Kayla." I replied, returning the small smile. Hershel nodded at the sound of my name, keeping his eyes down on his work.

"`Kayla`..." He repeated my name quietly, "That's unusual."

"Is it?" I asked quizically.

"I suppose I shouldn't say unusual. Unique is a better word for it. Still, very pretty... Feminine." Hershel explained, "Sit up, dear. I'm going to wrap the bandages, then you'll be good to go."

I sat up absent mindedly, my stomach turning as I remembered where I was going after Hershel was done with me... Back out into the cafeteria to talk to Rick...

My heart began to beat more rapidly, so I tried my best to focus on my conversation with Hershel.

"I always thought my name was pretty common," I said as he began wrapping bandages around my torso, "I always went to school with like, ten other Kaylas... It was names like `Genestra` that used to get me."

"Genestra?" Hershel repeated in a chuckle, "Now that's unusual."

I nodded in agreement.

"Yea, she was pretty unusual herself... Every outfit she wore was one solid color, right down to her socks. People you meet in college..." My heart sank when I began to think about my dorm room and my college friends, before all this... And what more than likely happebed to all of them...

"I guess I'm just an old fashioned man, I stuck with strong, classic female names for my two girls... Maggie and Beth."

I assumed Maggie was the girl was the golden bob, and Carol was the woman with the buzzcut... That left Beth as the young blonde teen. Now I knew everyone's name except for Rick's son.

"Those are pretty names." I said to Hershel with a smile, and he flashed it right back.

"Okay, dear, you're all patched up." Hershel said to me as he began to tidy up his work area, "Go on, now. Rick's waiting."

I nodded nervously before slowly standing up. The fresh gauze and bandages felt stiff and foreign, but I knew I'd adapt.

I began to make my way to the entrance of the cell, when Hershel spoke up again suddenly.

"Kayla," He called out softly, and I turned to look at him. "Don't be too scared of Rick. He's not as cold as he makes himself seem."

I smiled at Hershel, truly appreciating his advice. He really was a nice man... I just hoped what he said was true

The walk out of Hershel's cell and across the cafeteria floor to the table where Rick sat seemed to pass by in slow motion. As I glanced around nervously, I noticed that he and I were the only souls in the cafeteria. I assumed he had asked the others to give him some privacy to interogate me.

Rick's sharp blue eyes cut into me like white hot daggers as I approached him.

When I took a seat across the table from him, an old memory was triggered of a time I was sent to the principal's office in second grade for starting a fight on the playground with a third grade boy. I could remember the scary feeling of shrinking under my principals angry, disapproving eyes.

This timid feeling Rick was giving me was very similar to that feeling I'd gotten, sitting in front of the principals desk all those years ago.

"So," Rick finally spoke up after what felt like an eternity, "Let's talk. How 'bout we start simple... What's your name?"

He gazed at me expectantly, and I shakily cleared my throat.

"Uh, K-Kayla.." I stuttered. So much for trying not to sound nervous.

"Kayla.. Pretty name," Rick said honesty while leaning back in his chair, and crossing his tan arms over his chest. "Kayla What?"

"Easton..."

"Hmm." Rick took in the simple information and nodded his head, "You look pretty young there, Miss Easton... How old are ya? 25, 26?"

"22," I corrected him, "23 in a few months."

Rick raised his eyebrows just slightly when I revealed my age to him.

"Guess you're younger than I thought..." He observed, "Where'd ya'll come from? You got accents that don't sound from around these parts."

I blinked at this question. I was unaware we had any kind of accents at all, except for Danny, and even his was barely noticeable now.

"Southern Indiana," I answered, "Ellettsville... It's, um... Right below Indianapolis. Been almost two years since we left now..." My voice trailed off, and Rick nodded in solumn understanding.

There was a short pause before Rick spoke up again, looking straight into my eyes. His tone was much more serious.

"Now, we get to the tougher questions... First, mind tellin' me what you were doin' spyin' on my prison?"

I hesitated for a second, trying to read him... I couldn't tell if he was angry or not. I sighed, realizing there was no way around this...

"Well..." I started out, slowly tracing invisible shapes onto the table top with my finger tip, "I honestly don't really know... I mean, yes, when we first set up camp, we saw this prison and we thought it was a goldmine... But you guys beat us to it, just barely."

I looked up from my invisible drawing to see Rick staring at me with intent interest. I took that as a sign to keep talking.

"I-I guess what I'm saying is... I was watching you guys because we were, um... You know, waiting it out."

"`Waiting it out`..." Rick repeated me slowly as he narrowed his eyes a bit, "...To see if we'd die. Am I right?"

My face flushed. That sounded so horrible... but it was true, so my body forced a nod.

"We would have moved on evetually.." I added in.

This was also true... My group and I were survivors, not pillagers. We held our own and took care of ourselves, only using force on the living only when absolutely needed.

Rick was silent for a moment, seeming to stare straight through me. He pursed his lips, deep in thought, before zeroing in on me again and diving right back into the interogation.

"So none of you know anything about those notes that showed up here..?" He asked skeptically, leaning a little closer across the table.

I quickly shook my head, feeling meek as a tiny mouse cornered by a hungry cat.

"No, nothing. We've never seen them before." I looked Rick straight in the eyes, praying he believed me.

I could tell he was taking advantage of my staring, studying my face and trying to read me, just like I had done to him a few minutes before.

I didn't mind him doing it, though. I had nothing to hide.

"And that woman...?" Rick extended his previous question, and I shook my head in response.

There was another long pause. Rick continued to stare, and I waited awkwardly.

Finally, his icey gaze softened and his shoulder released a little bit of tension.

"I don't think we have any problems here." Rick observed.

"You don't?" I asked, sort of dumbfounded.

I had almost expected him to take the innocent information I had given him and morph it into a conflict, giving him a reason to force us to hand over our weapons and supplies. We'd be dead then, for sure.

Rick shook his head.

"I'm good at readin' people, Miss Kayla," Rick informed me as he leaned his elbows on the table, "I'm a pretty good judge of character... Right and wrong, Good and bad..."

His voice was almost hypnotic as I listened to it.

"...And you, young lady... I gotta tell ya, I just don't see any bad in you, or your group. Is it just the five of you?"

"It's always just been us, since day one." I told Rick, feeling just a little more comfortable now, "I, um... I'm sorry we freaked you guys out like that."

Rick grinned at me.

"Well, I appreciate the apology." He said, "You'll have to excuse the way Daryl acted. He's... raw. Like you and your friends, Daryl's been by my side since the beginning of this mess, and he gets real protective. He'd die for this group, come close more than once," Rick rambled on about Daryl, and I found myself strangely fascinated.

"Daryl's got your typical tough guy, in your face, redneck I-don't-give-a-shit attitude, and he walks around here like he's got a problem all the damn time, but we all know he's got a good heart... So we just let him do it."

Daryl, a heart? That sounded a little farfetched to me... But then again, I hadn't been traveling with him for over a year like Rick and his group had.

"You plannin' on stayib' around here?" Rick asked me, suddenly changing the subject.

"You mean our camp?" I replied with my own question, "I, uh... W-we can leave if you want, go down the tree line a few miles and set up camp there... If you'd be more comfortable."

I made my suggestion carefully, trying not to say the wrong thing. The last thing I wanted to do was piss off the man holding the only four people I had left in the world captive... Not to mention all the weapons and ammo we had collected over the past year.

"Well, if that's what you'd prefer, but it's not what I meant." said Rick as he ran his hand through his curly brown hair.

"I don't follow..." I admitted with slightly narrow eyes.

"Look," Rick began, "These notes showin' up all of a sudden, and that strange woman findin' her way here... That's not just a strange coincidence. I don't know, it's just got me thinkin'..."

I waited, watching his face change with his thoughts. He seemed to be debating something, or struggling to make a decision.

Suddenly, he pushed himself up from the table and began to pace a little bit. He put one hand on his hip, reaching up and wiping over his mouth and chin with the other... It seemed like a nervous habbit.

"It's got me thinkin'..." Rick picked up where he left off, "That this isn't someone's idea of a joke. Somebody out there wants what we have, and I think they're plannin' on tryin' to come take it. I can't be taking any chances, I've got my son here... And now my daughter..."

He gulped at the mention of his daughter, a look of fear and worry consuming his eyes. "I don't know who this 'G' person is, or how many people they've got on their side... So I need more people on mine."

Rick paused and turned to look at me. All the tension in his face was going straight to his eyebrows.

"I saw that bag of guns Daryl brought in... quite a collection. They all belong to your group?"

"Mhm.." I said back, "Took a while to get that many together."

"I'll bet.." Rick agreed, "Ya'll any good at using them?"

I gave him a confident smile, flashing my teeth.

"Well, of course." I stated matter-of-factly, "We're still alive, aren't we? Plus, we made it all the way to Georgia from Indiana."

This time, Rick was the one who smiled.

"That's a good point." He said, then layed his palms flat out on the table, "So, this is the deal I'm thinkin' of... You and your group can stay in this prison, there's plenty of cells up on the second level. Space isn't an issue."

My heart fluttered a bit. This was a huge offer... Shelter inside a barricaded, concrete prison? It was ideal now adays.

"But, if you do choose to stay, there'll be a three day probation period."

"Probation?" I repeated, tilting my head to the side a little.

"Yup. That means no weapons, no leavin' the prison lot beyond the fence, and at night you sleep in a holding cell, behind a locked door." Rick explained, "I don't mean any offense, I just have to make 100% sure you and your group are safe to have around my people... around my kids. Three days should be enough time."

"None taken." I assured Rick, "You have to do what's best for them... I get that."

"I'm glad you understand." Rick breathed, flashing me small, relieved smile, "And once those three days are up, you're all in the clear. You get your weapons back, and you're free to come and go as you please... Official members of our group."

Rick's eyes suddenly got dark. "But if you do anything, anything to defy my trust... That's it, deal's off. We keep your weapons, and you're back out there on your own."

I gulped, my eyes wide. That was a pretty big ultimatum... But we were trustworthy people. We'd be just fine.

"This goes entirely against my usual codes," Rick mumbled, "It's definately not every day I'm willing to take in even one extra body... But lord knows me we need more people to lean on around here... So what do ya say?"

I bit my bottom lip as a million thoughts raced through my mind. This certainly wasn't what I had been expecting while my group and I were being ushered into the cafeteria at gun point.

"Well, I have to talk to my brother about it," I said, "But I'm pretty sure we'll be staying."

"Not a problem." Rick obliged with a solid nod, "You have the right to talk it over."

With that, Rick motioned for me to follow him. So, I stood up, wincing at the soreness of my freshly bandaged wound.

He led me around the corner where I had seen Daryl disappear earlier, which led to a short hallway with a series of holding cells at the end.

I could see Glenn and Maggie, seated with their backs against the left wall, their guns at their sides. I figured they were supposed to be on guard duty... But they were slacking.

I watched as Glenn leaned in close to Maggie, placing a lingering kiss on her lips. They hadn't noticed Rick and I approaching yet.

Rick cleared his throat, causing the young couple to jump a little bit. They whirled around to face us, their eyes wide and cheeks red.

"Plannin' on givin' our guests a free show?" Rick asked them with a chuckle and a raised eyebrow.

I looked down at the floor for a second as they stammered for an answer. I thought about how nice it must be to have someone to love in this world.

I wondered if I'd ever find someone... I couldn't exactly use the phrase `there's plenty of fish in the sea` to make myself feel better, either.

"I'm just kiddin',"'Rick assured them, "Just keep it PG. You got the keys, Glenn?"

"Oh, yea.." Glenn replied after clearing his throat. He searched through his vest pockets, pulling out a small silver ring with four seemingly identical keys dangling from it. "Here ya go."

Rick held his hand up, and Glenn gave the keys an underhand toss. They sailed through the air, landing gracefully in Rick's palm with a soft jingle.

The sheriff led me past Glenn and Maggie and up to the holding cell's door of steel bars. He located the correct key, and jiggled it into the lock.

"Kayla?" I heard Zach's voice call out hopefully, echoeing slightly and bouncing off the walls. I couldn't see him yet, though. Rick's tall, thin frame was blocking my view.

"He hasn't stopped asking about you." Maggie said from behind me, and I turned to see her smiling, "It's cute... You're lucky to have a brother like that looking out for you."

I felt my lips curve into the same smile Maggie was giving to me. She was a sweet girl.

"I know.." I replied softly.

At that exact moment, I heard the heavy metal lock of the cell door click. Rick held the door open for me, and he shut it behind me as I passes by. The lock clicked again.

With a final instruction for me to call him to unlock the door when we were all done talking, Rick retreated back down the hallway and around the corner with Glenn and Maggie in tow.

As they walked away, the members of my group shot up from their sitting positions around the cell.

As they made their way toward me, I glanced over into the joining cell. The African American woman lay unconcious on one of the cots, and her side was neatly bandaged... Hershel's work, no doubt.

"Kayla...!" Jessie's relieved voice broke my gaze away from the woman, and back to my brother and friends. "I'm so glad you're okay..."

She gingerly embraced me, noticing the bandages around my midsection. When Jessie backed away, Tina was next in line, wrapping her frail arms around my neck.

"I'm perfectly okay," I said as I released Tina, "I'm... much better, actually."

Now, Zach approached me, seeming to examine my face. His eyes dropped down to the bandages, then traveled back up to my eyes. When he realized I wasn't distressed, the tension fell from his shoulders, and he looked a little confused.

"I'm fine, Zach," I assured my brother in a calm whisper, "Really."

"Soooo..." Danny suddenly spoke up from next to Tina, "What happened out there?"

"Not really much of anything... Hershel, the old man, fixed up this cut on my stomach... Then Rick and I talked; Rick's that guy in the cop uniform." I had to clarify names when they were mentioned, "And then he brought me back here... So here I am."

The four of them exchanged quizical glances. I waited for more questions.

"I'm confused..." Tina announced, but it was already written all over her face.

"Does that mean we're free to go?" Danny asked.

"Actually..." I slowly began, walking over to a cot and taking a seat, "I need to talk to you guys about that..."

-TO BE CONTINUED-


	8. Chapter 8: Feeling Things Out

It had taken a lot of reasoning, but I had done it. After an hour of intense debating, I had convinced my group that these people were the type of rare, trustworthy souls that we needed to band with, and they were giving us a chance... A chance we might not ever get again.

Rick was right. The world wasn't getting any better, it was just getting worse. The number of walkers was steadily rising, and the living were becoming increasingly hostile and dangerous... The five of us needed to be part of something bigger.

So, it was decided. We were going to stay.

But even after I had called Rick to unlock the cell door, it had taken us another forty-five minutes to feel comfortable walking out into the open cafeteria. Not one of us was leaving that cell without the others... We were a family, dammit.

Finally, we all strayed down the hallway and around the corner, hesitantly trickling our way into the main room. Everyone from Rick's group had come back out from their hiding spots, scattered around at the tables. It was extremely awkward, watching as they all tried to act normal in our presense.

We must have seemed like a timid bunch of deer being introduced into captivity... I couldn't wait for this probation period to be over...

xxxxxx

Slowly, over the next few hours, we mingled with the prison group, making introductions and small talk.

We all began to realize that we were no threat to each other. Still, things were a little tense, but that was expected.

Somewhere around 5:00 PM, when Carol and Maggie began to get dinner started, Rick approached Zach, who was sitting with Jessie and I at one of the outermost tables.

"You got a vehicle out there, Zach?" He asked my brother, who nodded.

"It's a Cherokee." Zach replied, "We have a little food and water out there, too."

"Mhm," Jessie chimed in, "And a few extra blankets we don't really use..." She glanced across the cafeteria where Beth was feeding baby Judith, and suddenly stood up, walking her to a cell for a nap. "Maybe your baby could use them...?"

I looked up at Rick, and by the glassy look in his eyes, I knew Jessie's offer had touched him.

"I'd really appreciate that." Rick replied softly and sincerely.

He glimpsed at my brother, who nodded in approval. We were starting out on the right foot with these people.

"Well, the reason I ask is we'd be willing to take you down there to get your stuff, before it gets ransacked. We'll help watch your backs while you get everything together."

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Zach said, "Me and Danny can handle all the packing. The girls can stay here, I don't like them being in danger when they don't have to be."

I rolled my eyes, knowing I was just as capable of fending off walkers as any man was... I gave Jessie a look from across the table, and she mimiced it. I knew she felt the same way I did.

I hated when Zach tried to make our decisions for us, treating us like babies just because we were girls... But I wouldn't argue or cause a scene this time... Not in front of Rick and everyone else.

Rick looked down at my and Jessie's pouty reactions and chuckled.

"C'mon, girls. Zach's just being a responsible leader, that's all." He said to us while his chuckle calmed into a grin.

"Exactly!" Zach agreed enthusiastically, giving me a triumphant look.

"Whoa, there, Rick." I said, "Don't go giving him a bigger head than he's already got."

"Yea," Jessie agreed with a sly smirk, "That thing's already about to explode as it is."

My brother rolled his eyes at our insults. As he stood up from the table, he reached out and quickly slapped the back of my head, just barely hard enough to cause a light sting. He leaned over the table to do the same thing to Jessie, but her reflexes were faster than mine and she dodged him.

"Hey!" I squealed as I grabbed the back of my head, stretching my arm out to retaliate against Zach.

He jumped out of my way, laughing as my fingertips barely grazed his shirt. I flipped him the bird. I guess I'd just have to let him win this time...

"We've still got a good two hours or so of daylight left," Rick said to Zach as they started to walk away, "That should give us plenty of time. We'll take one of our vehicles out there, and you can follow back in yours."

I watched as the two of them strolled over to Danny, who was seated on the lefthand stairwell. They told him the plan, and he eagerly jumped up, following Zach and Rick across the cafeteria. Rick pushed the door open, and they disappeared outside.

After a few seconds, the door opened again. This time, Glenn came waltzing in.

He lifted his faded blue baseball cap, revealing a head of black hat-hair, and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He replaced his cap, and hurried across the cafeteria floor to his cell. Glenn ducked inside, reappearing almost instantly.

I could hear a soft jingling sound as he walked by again, glancing at Jessie and I and giving us a polite nod.

I returned his gesture, and as my eyes dropped lower to his hands, I found the source of the jingling; A set of car keys.

Glenn pushed the door open again, calling out to Rick as he jogged back outside. The door swung shut behind him, and then it was quiet.

I glanced around the prison cafeteria, observing everyone that had been left inside.

First, I saw Hershel. He was relaxed across the room, a book open on his lap and a pair of wire reading glasses perched at the end of his nose. His white eyebrows scrunched up as he focused, reading the last few words on the page before flipping it over.

A few feet away from him, Maggie and Carol were seated at the same long, fold out table from earlier that morning. Instead of sorting and sewing clothes this time, Maggie looked through a group of large cans of vegetables, choosing which ones to open for dinner. Carol kept herself preoccupied by making sure the plates and silverware were clean.

The two of them chatted quietly, smiling and chuckling every once in a while.

When I heard louder giggling from across the cafeteria, I automatically turned my head. I found Tina sitting on the floor on her knees behind Beth, who sat crossed legged. I hadn't even seeb her come back out of the cell.

Beth's long, wavy blonde hair was free from her usual ponytail, and Tina was running a hairbrush through the silky strands. I couldn't hear what they were talking about; Most likely celebrities they used to have crushes on, or maybe what they had wanted to do with their lives, back when there were options... But, I could hear their girly laughter, and it made me smile.

"Wow," Jessie piped up as she stared over at the two girls, "We've barely been here a full day and Tina's already got a best friend... That's a first."

I laughed a little bit.

"I was just thinking pretty much the exact same thing." I said, "I swear, we share the same brain."

"You know we do." Jessie replied back with a cheeky smile.

Suddenly, I made a face. Jessie's smile flattened, and she blinked her blue eyes.

"What..?" She asked.

"I just realized something..." I mumbled, and Jessie's face got really serious as she waited for me to go on, "...If I share a brain with you, that means... I'm half blonde! NOOOO.."

I jokingly cried out and shook my fists at the ceiling, and Jessie gasped in mock offense.

"Shut up!" She yipped through a fit of giggles, "Bitch."

"I'm sorry," I laughed, "You know I love you, Jess... Even if you are a dumb blonde."

My best friend shot me a look that made me crack up even harder, making the gash on my stomach stretch and sting a little bit under the bandages.

"I'm kidding..!" I choked out as my laughter calmed to a soft giggle.

Jessie smirked and rolled her eyes. Then, she stood up, brushing her hands over the knee length skirt of her sundress.

"Yea, yea." She waved off my dumb blonde joke, "I'm gonna go see if Carol and Maggie need any help. Wanna come?"

I scrunched up my nose a little bit as I thought this over for a few seconds, then shook my head and stood up.

"Nah, I actually kind of want to go get some air.." I replied as I stood on my toes and stretched my muscles out.

"Okay," Jessie said as she started walking away, "Be careful out there."

"I will." I assured her, then walked towards the door.

On my way, I passed by T-Dog, who was napping on the upper right corner table. I smiled and shook my head. Why not just walk to a cell?

Oh, well. Not my life.

When I pushed the big, rusty door open, the warm outside air rushed over my face. It combed back a few strands of hair from my face that had fallen loose from my braid.

The sun was halfway to setting now, hanging a little lower in the sky. Still, it was shining bright enough to cause my hand to instinctively rest itself above my eyebrows, acting as a visor.

Even so, my eyes squinted to adjust to the brightness. Finally, they adjusted enough for me to spot Daryl, Rick, Glenn, Zach, and Danny near the front gate of the prison. Carl, Rick's son, was with them. He was armed, waiting to open and close that gate as fast as he could.

All five men were crowded around a green SUV. Rick was busy dumping a small cannister of gasoline into the vehicle's gas tank, while Daryl and Glenn loaded a few extra weapons and another cannister of gas into the trunk.

As I made my way over, I noticed the green SUV was a Hyundai Tuscon... and a pretty new one, at that.

"You need all that just to go right out there?" I asked no one in particular, and each of them turned around. By the looks on their faces, they were a little surprised to see me.

"Well, you can never be too prepared." Rick informed me, his expression of surprise fading into a small smile.

"Plus, the Cherokee's out of gas, remember?" Zach reminded me, "Like... completely empty, passed the point of running on fumes. It's not gonna move an inch without fresh fuel."

"Oh, yea..." My voice trailed off as I remembered the thirsty chugging sound the Cherokee's engine had been making when it finally crawled to a stop at our campsite.

"Speaking of gas, we've only got a can and a half left after this," Glenn spoke up, slamming the trunk shut, "We're low on medical supplies, too... We should probably go on a run soon."

"Right.." Rick nodded as he set down the now empty gas cannister, and capped the vehicle's gas tank. "We'll make a plan when we get back."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Daryl, and I could feel his steel blue eyes boaring into me.

"She taggin' along?" His gruff voice hit my ears, his question directed at Rick. How'd I know he was going to have something to say?

Before Rick could answer Daryl, I took the liberty of turning towards him and doing it myself.

"'she' is standing right here, and 'she' can talk to you 'her'self." I spoke clearly in third person, cutting my words and putting extra emphasis on 'she' and 'her', "And no, I am not 'tagging along'."

Daryl narrowed his eyes down at me, as if it intimidated me... I narrowed mine right back.

Wow... His eyes were alot more blue than I thought...

"Kayla.." My brother's low voice of warning flowed through my ears, but I ignored him.

I heard Rick tell Zach not to worry about Daryl and I, and then he disappeared around the side of the car, hopping into the driver's seat. Danny and Zach climbed into the backseat.

"Hm." Daryl grunted back as I heard the Tuscon's engine start, "Good."

"'Good'? What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped at Daryl's back as he turned and opened the passenger side door.

"Means you'd just get in the way." He scoffed over his shoulder before ducking inside the Tuscon and slamming the door shut.

I was annoyed, but I didn't say anything more. What was the point? He wouldn't hear me, the windows were up and the vehicle was already rolling toward the gate.

I watched the tail lights with a furrowed brow. Daryl really got under my skin... Who the hell was he to tell me I'd get in the way? He didn't even know me, or what I was capable of doing... I truly hated being underestimated.

Glenn unlatched the gate's lock, helping Carl slide it open. The Tuscon rolled outside the safety of the fenced in lot, and the very second the rear bumper passed through the thresh hold, they slammed the gate shut again.

The walkers that had been locked on the outside pressed their rotting faces into the fence, snarling and snapping their jaws. They linked their boney fingers through the spaces in the metal and rattled it around fiercely.

I walked over to Glenn and Carl in a slight huff. I joined them in staring past the gate, watching the Hyundai roll through the open field, leaving the walkers in a cloud of dust. It didn't take long for it to reach the treeline, and soon it disappeared into the woods.

I sighed loudly, and Glenn turned his head to look at me.

"Hey, Kayla..." He said, his voice sounding genuine, and I turned my eyes to meet his, "Don't take what Daryl said to offense. He's just not used to new people being around. I think he's still getting used to me, and I was here before he was."

I didn't say anything at first, just chewed my bottom lip lightly.

"Why'd they leave you behind?" I asked him after a second or two, "Does Daryl think you'll get in the way, too?"

Glenn blinked at me, obviously noticing the bitter tone in my voice.

"Well, a few people have to be at the prison at all times... Just in case... So I chose to stay." He replied slowly.

I nodded my head in response. I knew he was here mostly to guard Jessie, Tina and I and just wasn't saying it... it was still only the first day of our "probation period".

"Daryl's a nice guy," Carl's small voice piped up from my other side, and I looked down at him. His blue eyes looked just like his dad's. "You just have to give him time."

I couldn't help but smile at the boy. He was so mature for his age... But I guess he'd have to be to survive in this world.

"So I've heard..." I sighed to Carl, "I just wish he wouldn't be so rude."

I announced I was going back inside, and turned on the heel of my boot. I headed back toward the cafeteria door, trying to get over how insulted I felt. Simply trying to convince myself that Daryl was just a typical man; Cocky and big headed; Didn't really help... But I knew what would do the trick.

A cigarette. Maybe a few cigarettes.

There had to be some kind of nook I could sneak off to around the outside of the prison... So, instead of opening the door and going back inside like I said I was going to, I ducked around the side of the building, hidden away from Carl and Glenn.

I knew I wasn't breaking any of Rick's probation rules, but I wanted to explore without any eyes on me.

I leaned my back against the rough bricks, reaching my left hand behind me and giving the pocket of my shorts a pat. I smiled when I felt the cardboard pack of Newports that were still in my pocket from that morning, along with the lighter.

I pulled the pack out of my pocket and whipped out a cigarette, not even caring it was my least favorite brand.

In just a few short motions that seemed like second nature to me at this point in my life, my cigarette was lit and the pack was tucked safely back into my pocket, along with the lighter.

The thick smoke coated the inside of my lungs, sending a satisfying nicotine buzz coursing through my veins. I exhaled the first puff slowly and let my eyes wander around the cement lot.

I had never seen this side of the prison before. In fact, there was a good percentage of it I hadn't seen yet. My view from the binoculars had been pretty restricted.

I began to slowly stroll around the cafeteria, puffing on my cigarette and taking in my surroundings. The cafeteria was the nucleus of the lot, smack dab in the middle of two larger concrete buildings, and a few storage sheds in the very back.

There were certain areas of the lot that were seperately fenced off, leading to doors that I didn't dare open... Not unarmed, at least. Who knew what the hell was behind them, or if Rick or anyone in his group had gone to look inside yet themselves? Too much mystery for me.

I'd just stick to what I could see for now.

As I rounded the side of the brick building, my eyes were drawn passed the fence and into the completely open yard behind the prison. Dozens of walkers stumbled about in the grass, some of them emerging from the woods about a hundred yards away.

They were eerily calm... I was too far away for them to notice me. I stared at them a moment longer, wondering how the hell the world had come to this... I actually found myself asking that question a lot.

I ashed my cigarette and started to move on down the backside of the building, but halted when something caught my eye... something laying on the cement a few feet away, shimmering against the glow of the late afternoon sunshine.

I squinted at it in an attempt to get a better visual, but with no luck. Curiosity got the best of me and I walked over to it, noticing it was a silver necklace as I approached.

I held my half-way smoked cigarette inbetween my index and middle finger on my right hand, while bending over and scooping up the necklace in my left.

"I wonder where this came from..." I asked myself softly.

The delicate chain was draped across my fingers, feeling like silver lace. I studied the heart shaped charm dangling from the chain and noticed it had hinges.

It was a locket.

I grasped my cigarette inbetween my lips, holding the charm gently in both hands. I ran my thumb nail along the thin crease, and the locket released, folding open to reveal a small picture on both sides.

On the left was a picture of a little boy with dark hair, freckles, and big blue eyes. He was dressed in a baseball uniform, posing as if he were about to hit the ball. The little boy's big smile was missing the two top front teeth. I found myself smiling back at him, realizing it was a picture of Carl at age seven or so.

On the other side of the heart shaped locket was a picture of Rick next to a woman with pretty green eyes and long, wavy dark hair. They were both smiling into the camera so wide that it could have just as easily been laughter.

Rick had his arm around the woman, and her head seemed to rest naturally on his shoulder... They looked so in love.

I felt my smile fade as I remembered back a few days, when I had seen Rick dealing with the death of his wife, the woman in the picture, through my binoculars. I honestly couldn't believe her baby had survived the birth... God knows how gruesome that must have been...

This locket must have belonged to his wife... I flipped over the charm. On the back, "Lori" was engraved in cursive.

After taking a second more to look at each picture, I snapped the locket closed and carefully tucked the chain into my pocket. I made a mental note to return it to Rick or Carl later, then turned and walked back towards the cafeteria.

By the time I rounded the corner to the other side of the cafeteria, facing the front of the prison again, I had taken the last drag of my cigarette. I flicked the filter onto the ground, pulled out another cigarette and quickly lit it.

"Just finished a cigarette...? Perfect time to smoke a cigarette." I muttered to myself, the cigarette bobbing up and down with my words.

I smiled as I said it. That was an inside joke between my old co-worker, Paul, and I. We had worked as servers at a small italian restaurant called Sophie's Bistro, back when life was normal.

Somehow, between running drinks and food to our needy tables, we would sneak out the back door for a quick smoke. Sometimes we could finish an entire cig, sometimes we'd only get a few puffs before our manager, Johnny, would peep his head out the door.

"Kayla! Table 17 needs an extra side of marinara." He would say; Or "How long does it take to roll 45 silverware, Paul? I mean SERIOUSLY."

Sometimes, on slow days, Paul and I could get away with stretching 10 minute breaks that Johnny granted us into 20 or 30 minute breaks, just standing out behind the restaraunt, chain smoking and shooting the breeze..Hence how the inside joke was born.

I'll admit, I had always had a thing for Paul... He was tall, had big green eyes and a beautiful smile... He always made me laugh... And I knew he had a thing for me, too.

At work, he would always stash my favorite candies in the locker where I kept my things, and we would always text, even if we didn't work the same shift that day.

One night at a pretty rowdy party, Paul and I got a little drunk... Okay, very drunk, and we ended up making out in the kitchen of whoever's home we had happened to be in. Things escalated quickly, and we ended up in a spare bedroom upstairs.

But, shortly before things went passed the point of no return, I realized what I was doing, and it just... wasn't right. Paul and I both agreed to pretend it never happened, and just remained good friends. And that was the farthest I had ever gotten with a guy.. So here I was, still a virgin and most likely going to die that way...

Hey, I said I was a party girl, not a slut.

When I looked up from lighting my cigarette, I noticed an old blue and white truck parked between the two buildings on either side of me. My stomach fluttered. Being a country girl straight from the hills and cornfields of Indiana, there was a special place in my heart for trucks. Especially vintage trucks.

I walked right up to it as I exhaled a cloud of smoke, inspecting every little detail. I peered into the scratched up windows at the brown leather interior, which was ripped in a few places and showing the yellowing foam underneath.

The white and blue duo tone paint was coated in a film of dust, sporting a few dings and scratches... But what else could you expect in a zombie apocolypse? It was still a beautiful vehicle.

My eyes traveled from the tires, which were in surprisingly good condition, to the bed... which held a burly black and chrome motorcycle.

I blinked at this sight for a second, taking two more long drags off my cigarette, right down to the filter. I tossed it to the cement and instinctively ground it down with the ball of my boot.

Something about this just screamed 'Daryl'... But hey, even if it did, he had great taste.

I had gotten my fill of staring at the pretty truck, and turned on my heel to see a rusty fire escape, scaling up the side of the building next to the cafeteria. My eyebrows raised in interest as I made my way over to it, studying the distance it was from the ground.

To my amazement, I reached my arms up and easily wrapped my fingers around the bottom rung. I took a deep breath, and hoisted myself up, being careful of my wounded stomach. Climbing the three story building was suprisingly easy, and when I reached the roof I realized there was an extra floor, casting a shadow over the lower platform that I now stood on.

I peered out at the view of the yard past the fence, which was crowded with walkers. My eyes danced across the open field as I tried to take a headcount... I lost track at 42, and gave up. From this distance, the walkers all began to look the same.

I focused on fetching another smoke from my pocket. I looked down at the end of it as I held my lighter up and puffed the ember into action... Just as the lighter ran out of fluid.

"Damn..." I muttered softly, plucking the cigarette from my mouth with my two fingers. "Oh, well."

I was about to chuck the burnt out lighter across the rooftop, when the sound of moaning and wheezing caught my attention, coming from my left.

My reflexes caused my muscles to freeze in defense, but as I listened I could tell the noises were coming from the ground. Slowly, I walked over to the edge of the roof and peered downward. Sure enough, there was a group of about 10 or 12 walkers crowding the fence, which was only about a foot and a half from the side of the building. The barbed wire seemed right within my reach, but I didn't dare test that theory.

As dangerous and disgusting as they were, the walkers had always fascinated me. I wondered exactly what it was that caused the dead to turn; Bitten or not.

I took a slow drag of my cigarette as I stared down at the bloodthirsty beasts, who only looked at me as their next snack. I looked at the dead lighter in my hand, then absent mindedly tossed it downward.

I watched as the lighter sailed toward the ground, smacking a female walker dead center in the forehead on its way down. Of course, she didn't react to the sudden strike. Walkers had no sense of feeling, only a sense of hunger. Hell, you could put 10 bullets in their chest and chop both their legs off with an axe, and they'd still drag their way towards you... Those things were nothing but walking, flesh eating machines, and the only thing stopping them from devouring what remained of the Earth's population was people like us who came along and killed them... Again.

I smoked through half of my cigarette, just standing and staring down at the pack of undead monsters trying to claw their way up the fence to me. I became lost in my thoughts, until suddenly a loud, abrupt sound startled me back into reality.

*BEEP**BEEP**BEEEEEEP* ... *BEEP**BEEP**BEEEEEEP* ...

It was a car horn. I whirled around in my spot on the roof, careful to keep my balance so I didn't fall to the waiting walkers below. As I gazed out into the field, I caught sight of the green Hyundai tearing towards the prison gate with the Cherokee close behind, leaving the herd of walkers chasing after them in a cloud of dust.

The Hyundai continued honking, and down at the gate, Glenn and Carl took their positions. They waited as the Tuscon and Cherokee grew closer and closer, finally whipping the gate open and allowing them to lass through at the very last second.

Once the vehicles were safely inside the fence, the gate was slammed shut, seperating the dead from the living... And it was done. I raised my eyes and nodded my head slightly as I took a puff off my cigarette. It was obvious they knew what they were doing, their organization was spotless.

I kept watching as the guys all stepped out from the vehicles and began unloading the familiar items from our campsite in the woods. I stayed quiet and took my time finishing my cigarette, not bothering to climb down from the roof to help them.

I certainly didn't want to get in the way.

When everything was unloaded, the guys disappeared inside one by one,without even noticing I was watching.

First went Rick and Carl, followed by Glenn, then Zach, Danny, and Daryl... who stopped short of the cafeteria door, letting in swing closed in front of him.

My stomach fluttered as he suddenly turned his up, staring straight in my direction. Even across the slight distance, I could make out his steel blue eyes and stoney, intimidating expression.

I stared Daryl down, placing one hand on my hip and popping it out to the side in a sassy way, simultaneously taking a long inhale of nicotine. I had maybe one puff left before I hit the filter.

Daryl tilted his head to side a little bit, shifting his weight and crossing his toned arms over his well built chest. I could read his body language loud .

He was challenging me, trying to play alpha male. Well, it wasn't going to work on me.

I forcefully exhaled the last of the smoke, then flicked the filter off the side of the roof. When it crashed to the cement, what was left of the cherried ember exploded like a mini firework. Then, I thrusted my hand out in front of me, nice and high so Daryl could see it... And flipped him the bird.

I held that pose, and watched the redneck's face. I smiled in triumph when I saw his eyes narrow, and his lips tighten into a scowl under his scruffy facial hair. He then shook his head, yanked open the cafeteria door, and stormed back inside in a huff. Ha, I won.

I let out a chuckle as I turned around and made my way back over to the fire escape, beginning to descend my way back to the ground.

"Two can play at your little games, Mr. Big and Bad..." I muttered to myself as I reached the last few rungs an dropped back onto the cement.

By now, my stomach was growling. I was looking forward to dinner, even if it was cold corn and green beans from a can. Anything everything edible now adays was a luxury.

I knew this wouldn't be the last stand-off I'd have with Daryl... I could tell he was just as stubborn as I was, if so. But there was no way I was backing down. I'd at least get him to respect me, even if it was only a little bit. He didn't have to be my bestfriend, or even like me for that matter.

I mean, how hard could it be... He had to stop caring at some point, right?

-TO BE CONTINUED-

AN:: AGGHH im sorry this chapter took foreeeeever for me to post... well, it feels like forever to me, anyway.

i'm also sorry this chapter was pretty pointless, not much going on. I was sort of struggling with the events I had layed out for the story to follow, I had to change a few things so I sort of made this chapter a filler :/ there will be more action in the chapters to come!

and i know you all must be waiting for the daryl feels... don't worry, they're coming. can't rush love (; i'm really eager to write about them, too!

anyways, please review! and thank you to all my readers who are showing my story love and support (: you're all the best! xx


	9. Chapter 9: Breaking the Ice

The first night sleeping in the holding cell was restless and uncomfortable... Well, for me at least. Every one else seemed to be snoozing soundly in their sleeping bags.

I tossed and turned in my spot on the ground next to Tina, who could sleep literally anywhere... I envied that about her. I had always struggled with insomnia, even before the world changed... But when it did change, my sleeping problems got a lot worse.

There was always so much to think about, way too much to worry about, and usually always something that needed to be planned out... So my mind was never at rest. It really was exhausting.

Usually, I thought about my family, and my normal life that was only a little over a year in the past. It seemed like I had fallen asleep in the comfort of loved ones, electricity and hot water, and woken up in this brutal, primative nightmare of survival, stripped of everything I once knew.

On a normal day, the pleasant memories of barbecues, dates to the movies, and even taking tests in my college classes consumed me. No matter how hard I tried to shove them out, they always lingered...

But ever since we had walked into this prison, it had been a little easier to push aside the painful images of my old life, because now something else was persistantly taking their place...

And that was Daryl. As much as I tried to keep him out of my personal memories, there he was around every corner in my mind. I didn't understand it... I had only known this man for the better part of two days, and he had done nothing but put me down, judge me and drive me nuts the entire time.

So, why couldn't I get those steel blue eyes out of my mind...? The best I could do was try to ignore them...

So, I layed quietly on my side, facing the back wall and staring out the window. The sky outside was beginning to show just the slightest gradient of color, from blue to magenta. It was early in the morning... The sun would be rising in maybe two hours or so.

I let out an impatient sigh, closing my eyes and waiting for the relieving *click* of the cell door unlocking.

After another ten or twenty minutes of laying awake and waiting, I heard footsteps walking down the short hallway, accompanied by the soft jingle of keys.

My stomach fluttered in excitement as I listened to whoever it was; most likely Rick, Daryl, or Glenn; slide the key into the lock, and turn it. I hadn't been expecting someone quite this early in the morning, so it was definately a pleasant surprise.

*click*

I stayed still and kept my eyes on the back wall, listening to the footsteps trail over to the left. There was the soft jingling again, and I heard a key slide into a different lock.

*click*

The cell next to ours unlocked, enabling Michonne to move freely about the prison as well.

Michonne was the African American woman I'd seen miraculously slash her way to the gate of the prison just a day before.

I didn't know a lot about her besides her name... I wasn't able to get much more out of her when I'd seen her awake the night before, besides that Rick had offered her the same deal that he had offered my group, and she too was under-going the three day probation period.

She just seemed very angry...

When I heard the footsteps travel away from the cell doors and back down the hall, I sat up, catching the angel wings on the back of Daryl's leather vest as he disappeared around the corner.

It actually surprised me that he even bothered to unlock the doors and let us out at all.

Never the less, I was free from my restless prison. I kicked my sleeping bag off me, already dressed in my white tank top and snug, dark wash skinny jeans. I sat on the cement floor and tugged my brown hiking boots on, lacing them up over my jeans.

I winced as I quietly stood up. My stomach was still sore, and as I lifted my tank top I could see I'd have to pay a visit to Hershel later... A small red stain could be seen through the bandages, a sign that they needed to be changed soon. But, I'd be okay for now.

I tried to be as silent as possible as I stepped over a sleeping Zach, kneeling down next to my worn out red backpack that was up against the wall with everyone else's.

I slowly unzipped the side pocket, and began to dig around in search of my hair brush. Of course, it was at the very bottom... I sighed in frustrarion as I struggled to pull the brush from my backpack without pulling everything ontop of it out along with it.

Somehow, I managed to make it happen, and smiled in triumph as I quickly ran the bristles through my long auburn hair. I was too lazy to braid it, so I just let the long strands flow freely down to my waist.

When I slipped the brush back into my backpack, an all too familiar feeling hit me... Nicotine craving.

I quickly zipped up the side pocket, moving on to the larger front pocket; the treasure chest that held my cigarette goldmine. I lightly chewed my bottom lip as I tugged on the zipper and stared down at all the different packs of smokes I had to choose from, and I would definately be choosy this time.

After getting stuck with those Newports, I decided I would always take my time picking which cigarettes I wanted... If I had the time to spare, that is.

My eyes scanned all the different brands and flavors, and finally I reached into the pocket and snatched a pack of Camel Crush, one of my favorites. After a sleepless night like the one I had, I could really use the boost from the menthol.

Flipping back the lid of the pack, I could see that I had already smoked a little more than half the pack over time, leaving only eight or nine cigarettes. I pursed my lips as I debated picking out a different kind to savor the last of the Camels, but then remembered there was another unopened pack floating around in there somewhere.

So, with a shrug, I tucked the pack into my back pocket, almost forgetting to grab a lighter. I reached my hand inside the bag and grabbed the first one my fingers touched.

Once the lighter had joined the cigarettes in my pocket, I zipped my bag back up, and slowly rose to my feet, being careful of my injury. I stepped back over Zach, who had rolled over onto his back inside his sleeping bag with one arm drapped over his eyes.

Now I had a clear path to the door.

"Smoking kills..."

The voice was so soft, but in this extreme silence it seemed loud and jarring.

Startled, I gasped and jumped a bit. My eyes danced around the cell, in search of the source of the voice.

Finally, my eyes were met with a pair of fierce, dark ones through the bars of the cell.

I was staring at Michonne, who was sitting upright on her cot, perched on the far wall of the neighboring cell. She kept her eyes on me as I stared, the intensity never wavering.

How long had she been watching me...?

"Well..." I spoke up softly, my voice sounding a little raspy, "I'd much rather die from smoking, which is something that's my choice, than let those freaks out there decide when I die.."

I nodded toward the window as I mentioned the walkers.

Michonne tilted her head slightly, before her lips curved into a smirk. She dropped her head down as she chuckled darkly, her dreads hanging in her face.

Needless to say, I was confused.

Michonne then glanced back up at me. The smirk had almost completely vanished from her face.

"You sound just like an old friend of mine..." She hissed at me, just barely audible.

I assumed that she meant an old friend that had suffered the same fate that the rest of the world did... Maybe that was why she was so angry?

I shifted my weight uncomfortably. I didn't know what to say, so I said the only thing floating around my mind.

"I'm sorry for your loss..." the generic, cookie cutter greeting card phrase rolled from my lips in a whisper.

Michonne's face twisted up into a scowl as she turned her head to stare at the back wall.

"No." She growled, "She's not dead..."

I watched her for a second as she seemed to become lost in her thoughts. Slowly, I exited the cell, thinking it was best to leave Michonne to herself for now.

"That was weird..." I grumbled to myself as I made my way down the hall.

It was still dark in the cafeteria, and after my eyes adjusted a little bit, I could see that everyone else was asleep soundly in their cells.

I looked around for Daryl as I quietly made my way into the main portion of the cafeteria, but he was no where to be found. I shrugged, thinking it was actually better that he wasn't around.

He'd probably just have something rude to say in that thick Georgia accent of his, and I wasn't in the mood for arguing so early in the morning... Especially not before I had my cigarette.

I took the long way around the tables to the door and pushed it open as quietly as possible. The early morning air was cool and humid against my face. It was refreshing, but I knew it wouldn't last long. As soon as that summer sun began to rise, it would be hot and muggy, so I enjoyed the cool air while it was lasting.

While lighting my first cigarette, I turned to my left and strolled over to the neighboring building. I passed the three vehicles; four if you counted the motorcycle; and rounded the corner to the back of the building where the fire escape was.

I reached up and gripped the bottom wrung, clamping my burning cigarette between my lips as I pulled myself up. The cool metal was damp with morning dew against my hands, so I made a point to keep a steady grip.

Soon, I reached the top of the latter,

and stepped onto the roof of the building. I pulled on the cigarette that was still clamped in between my lips, then plucked it away from my mouth with my two fingers so I could exhale the smoke.

The sky was getting just a little brighter, but the sun was still about an hour away from rising. A thin layer of fog coated the field around the outside perimeter of the prison, and it made the walkers that wandered around look even more eerie than usual.

I stifled a yawn as I carefully walked along the edge of the building, deciding to take a seat on the righthand corner, which pointed directly at the treeline. I enjoyed the last of the cool menthol cigarette, then pulled another from the pack and sparked it up... Hey, I could die literally at any moment, so what did it matter if I chain smoked?

The first fresh hit off the cigarette was crisp and refreshing, and as my eyes followed the countless walkers mindlessly droning about through the field, my mind reverted to a time when the "zombie apocalypse" was just something used to make movies and TV shows...

Five years ago...

"Hey, Jess, grab me another beer?"

"Sure."

17 year old Jessie bounded through the sliding glass door leading to my screened in back porch with a bowl of Cheddar Chex Mix in her hands. She bumped the door closed with her hip, then set the bowl ontop of the mini fridge that was just a step to the right.

"Do you want another Bud Light?" Jessie asked me as she popped the door open and peered inside the fridge.

I downed the last foamy sip at the bottom of my bottle, then spun it around in my hand to look at the blue and white label.

"Mmm.." I hummed in thought, pursing my lips, "What else is there?"

"Theeeere's a few Millers, a Corona..." Jessie began naming off beers, "...and something weird and fuzzy looking all the way in the back..."

I laughed at the face my friend made, scrunching her nose up in disgust.

"Bud's good." I assured her through my giggles.

She snatched two bottles out of the fridge, one for each of us, and joined me on the small wicker couch in the far corner of the porch. In front of the couch was a small tv with a dvd player hooked up to it. Nothing fancy.

"Thanks," I said as I took the beer from her outstretched hand, "Okay, are we ready?"

Jessie nodded her head of curly blonde hair, crunching on a mouthful of Chex Mix. "Yup. Hit play."

I eagerly complied, the remote was already pointed at the TV, and my thumb already rested on the 'play' button. When I pressed it, Zombieland started up right where we had left off, before Jessie had needed a bathroom break.

The two of us cracked open our beers and laughed as Columbus slammed through a wall of zombies with the badass yellow hummer.

"That hummer is seriously, like, my dream vehicle." I said as I reached over to snatch the Chex Mix from the bowl.

Jessie set it inbetween us so we could both reach it easily.

"I know." She agreed after a sip of Bud Light, "Totally zombie proof!... But kind of a gas hog."

I shrugged. "That's why you always make sure you have a hose to syphon gas. It's the zombie apocalypse, anything goes." I mimiced Jessie's sip of beer.

We watched for a few minutes in silence, gasping as Tallahassee shot Bill Murray, just like we did every single time we watched the movie... It was our favorite, after all. Our go-to. We knew almost every line from every single character.

"Where would you go in the zombie apocalypse?" Jessie asked me as the movie transitioned into the amusement park scene.

"Hmmm.." I hummed as I thought. We always had this conversation when we watched Zombieland.

"I'd go to the school." Jessie replied matter-of-factly, popping a pretzel from the Chex Mix into her mouth. "It only has, like, four main exits. It'd be so easy to board up... It really is like a prison, now that I think of it that way..."

"Doesn't help that it's just one big, gray box, either..." I replied in a mumble, watching as Columbus stood face to face with the most gruesome zombie in the movie; the clown. "But, yes, perfect zombie fort."

The rest of the movie played through, and at the very second the credits started rolling, the slider flew open.

"FREEZE." My brother shouted from the door frame, pointing his hand at us like a pistol, as if he were a cop. "Drop the beer. I believe you ladies are underage."

"I believe this lady doesn't give a fuck." I countered with a sneer while taking a long swig of my Bud Light.

"What she said." My best friend agreed, raising her now empty bottle into the air.

Zach laughed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I bet you'll give a fuck when Mom and Dad ask where all the beer went."

"Oh, we already know to just blame it on you, big bro." I said with a smartass smile, which Zach reflected right back at me.

"What were you watching?" He changed the subject while strolling over to the mini fridge, popping it open, and grabbing a Bud Light for himself. Unlike Jessie and I, Zach was 25, well past the drinking age.

"Zombieland." Jessie said while popping the DVD out of the player and securing it back inside the case.

"Again?" Zach asked in disbelief. "Aren't you getting tired of watching people smack zombies in the face with shovels yet?"

"No way!" Jessie exclaimed, "Zombie guts never get boring."

"The more guts, the better!" I agreed with a laugh.

My brother rolled his eyes at us, drinking from the frosty bottle in his hand.

"Well, at least if it ever does happen, you two'll be prepared."

Present...

Zach had been completely wrong that day. We weren't prepared, none of us. There was just no way you could possibly prepare yourself for a world like this, mentally or physically... Especially not from a movie.

"Shit." I muttered as I finally caught a glimpse of my cigarette, which was now just a filter with a stack of ash falling from the end. "Guess I spaced out for a minute.."

I let the filter drop from my fingertips, loosing sight of it as it sailed toward the cement lot. I contemplated lighting another one, but the sound of the gate opening and closing from below distracted me.

Daryl caught my eye as I peered down toward the noise, which had obviously been him. He had his back turned to me, latching the lock and avoiding the greedy grasps of the walkers on the outside. I noticed a string hanging from his belt that harnessed a bunch of dead squirrels... He'd been hunting.

A soft gasp escaped my lips as I noticed one of the walkers managed to snag the collar of Daryl's vest in its boney fingers. It didn't last too long, though.. He grabbed a long hunting knife strapped to his side, swiftly swinging it upward and impaling the walker's skull straight through the links of the fence.

Even from this distance, I could see the black blood spray, dead and deseased just like the corpse it came from. Daryl instinctively tossed his head in the other direction to avoid getting the slime in his eyes, nose or mouth. He ripped his knife free, and the now lifeless walker crumpled to the ground.

Daryl wiped the walker blood off his face with his forearm, then spit through the fence at the other walkers in anger and triumph. Of course, they did nothing but squirm, moan and hiss.

He then turned in a huff, about to make his way back towards the cafeteria, when he stopped in his tracks. My stomach fluttered as his eyes unexpectedly locked with mine.

After an awkward moment, I tilted my head to the side a bit and waved to him.

I hadn't really expected him to notice me...

-DARYL POV-

*swish* ... *plunk*

I stood still as I possibly could, my crossbow aimed between two tree trunks. I smirked as my eyes focused into the distance where my arrow had pinned a pretty good sized squirrel to the ground by its skull.

I reloaded my bow, just in case a group'a geeks sniffed me out... 'N I knew they would, sooner 'er later.

"Sorry, little fella..." I mumbled to myself while I slowly wiggled the arrow outta the dead rodent, "Must suck bein' at the bottom'a the food chain."

Truth was, I wasn't much farther up on the chain than he was. These days, walkers ruled the roost. If I wasn't careful, I'd end up just like that squirrel... A meal for somethin' hungrier than me.

That was the 12th squirrel I'd caught since I'd left the prison only about an hour earlier... There had always been somethin' about early mornin' that zeroed in on my huntin' instincts.

Just as I had tied the knot to secure the little guy to my belt with the rest'a 'em, I heard it. That sound that made ya freeze in your tracks, with your heart up in your throat. Those confused, stumblin' footsteps on the ground creepin' closer.

"Dammit..." I cursed to myself. I knew I wasn't the only one that liked to hunt in the mornin'...

I couldn't see the freaks yet, which meant I had time to get a head start on 'em. Twelve squirrels was as good'a catch as any, 'n I needed to get back to the prison before a herd mowed me down.

Somehow, I managed to out run the group'a walkers on my tail in the woods, 'n made it to the tree line. Now I had another problem... Makin' it through the foggy field'a corpses in front'a me, back to the gate.

My eyes scanned over the walkers, who hadn't noticed me yet. I spotted the best place to charge through, then reached down to my side and gripped the handle'a my huntin' knife I'd stolen from my brother when I was 18... Almost 20 years ago now.

I braced myself and withdrew the razor sharp, silver blade from its leather sheath. I gripped the handle with all my might, and took off into the foggy field like a bullet from a gun.

xxxxxx

I managed to make my way through the scragglers, only havin' to take out a few before I was safe behind the gate again.

The geeks crowded the gate while I latched it shut to keep 'em out.

Somehow, one'a 'em got its boney fingers through the fence and got a hold'a my collar. I could hear it gurglin' 'n wheezin' while it tried to yank my neck towards its bloody chompers. The snappin'a its jaw was loud enough to make me go deaf.

I re-positioned my knife in my hand, drawin' it back. "Man, shut up...!"

I heard myself grunt while I drove the blade into the walker's skull, hittin' just the right spot above its eye to cause a heavy shower'a blood to spray out. Lucky for me I had good reflexes, 'n turned my head away just in time to avoid the worst'a it.

I scowled while rippin' my knife from the rotten flesh 'n bone, wipin' the blood splatter from my face with my forearm. The walker's body buckled, and all his little friends trampled him to get just a little closer to what they thought was gonna be their next meal.

I found myself sneerin' at 'em through the fence. Even after a year'a this shit, I still couldn't believe this nightmare was for real.

I spit on the walkers in pure disgust, then turned to head back to the cafeteria... 'N that's when my eye caught somethin' up above me. I tilted my head up a little bit toward the building to my left, and a'course... There sat little Kayla, danglin' her legs over the side'a the roof, starin' right at me. After a second, she tilted her head to the side 'n waved at me.

I didn't wave back to her. Instead, I rested my hands on my waist and shifted my stance.

"How long've you been up'ere?" I asked her, nodding my head up in her direction.

"A while." She said back, her voice bouncin' off the concrete walls'a the buildings.

"What'er ya doin'? Spyin' again?"

I could see Kayla roll her eyes as she pushed herself up to stand on the edge'a the roof.

"You'd best be careful, little girl." I warned her as she balanced herself.

"I'm 23 years old. I'm not a little girl." Kayla barked back at me.

23... Hah. She was still a kid, pretty much.. I couldn't even remember my 23rd birthday, which was fifteen years ago. Man, I felt old...

"Alright, whatever." I shot back at her, "You gonna stay up'ere all day?"

"Maybe." Kayla answered me with a shrug, "What does it matter to you, Daryl? I'll just get in your way down there, right?"

She cocked her left hip to the side and looked at me with an attitude. I rolled my eyes at her, this time.

"'N what if I say yes?" I crossed my arms over my chest, "What'er you gonna do? Flip me the bird again?"

After I said that, Kayla placed her left hand on her hip and held the right one up high, extendin' her middle finger.

"You mean like this?" She asked, pretendin' to be innocent.

I shook my head. Should'a seen that one comin'...

"Real lady-like." I scoffed at her.

"Yea, so is killing walkers and skinning animals, right?" Kayla spat at me sarcastically.

I felt my eyebrows raise. "You know how'ta skin a squirrel?"

"Well, last time I checked, a squirrel's an animal."

"Smartass..." I grumbled to myself, then called back up to Kayla, "Well why don't ya get down here 'n help me, then."

A gust'a wind cut through the lot and whipped Kayla's long hair away from her body. She made a face like she was shocked or surprised, and her hands shot up and covered her mouth.

"Daryl needs my help?" She gasped in mock disbelief while her hands went down to cover her heart. I rolled my eyes.

"Just shut the hell up 'n get down here." I snapped, then made my way toward the side of the cafeteria where there was a little bit'a shade.

I could hear Kayla gigglin' as she walked away from the edge'a the building. With a frustrated sigh, I ran my hand through my hair and took a seat on the ground up against the brick wall 'n cut the squirrels loose from the rope while I waited for her.

It was almost perfect timing; Kayla walked across the cement lot and took a seat on the wall near me just as I snapped the knot that held the last squirrel.

"Why don't you just have one of the guys help you?" She asked me as I tossed one'a the dead squirrels into her lap.

Kayla surprised me when she didn't squeal about how gross the bloody animal was, or shove it off her lap. She just grabbed ahold of it 'n looked it over.

"None of 'em are up yet," I told Kayla, "Figured I'd see what you're made of when you mentioned skinnin' animals."

"Ahh. Okay." She nodded in understanding, "...Well, I'm pretty damn good at skinning, but I can't do it with my bare hands. I'm not quite that good."

When I gave Kayla a confused look, I realized she was hintin' that she needed a knife. I forgot she didn't have any weapons on her... So I dug around in my left pocket, 'n my fingers curled around somethin' small and metal; My pocket knife.

"Here." I grunted as I handed Kayla the pocket knife.

She wiped a little bit'a squirrel blood onto her jeans before reachin' out and takin' the knife from me. The soft skin of her long, skinny fingers grazed the tips of my own, which were worn and leathery from years of workin' on cars 'n fightin'... It made the hair on the back'a my neck stand up, and I quickly shook that feelin' away.

I glanced to my side at Kayla's face without her noticing while she flipped open the knife. I could see a little bit've a red tint on her freckley cheeks as she reached up to tuck her long hair behind her ear.

I felt a little better about my reaction to our hands touching... It was probably just natural instinct. Seems intincts were becomin' a part'a life more 'n more these days...

But I wasn't interested in pursuin' Kayla that way, or any woman for that matter. I didn't need the drama 'n bullshit that came along with 'em.

Instead, I focused on the squirrel in front'a me. I took my own knife 'n carefully cut into the soft skin'a the belly, makin' sure I didn't rip or tear the delicate flesh.

I was only able to work the blade up to the squirrel's neck and around the head before Kayla piped up from beside me.

"Done." She said while she shoved the skinned 'n gutted squirrel toward me, "Gimme another one."

I stared at the squirrel. It was skinned near perfect, with no rips or tears in the meat that I could see. My eyes flickered from the animal to the girl holdin' it.

Slowly, I reached my hand up 'n grabbed the squirrel. I raised my eyebrow suspiciously at Kayla.

"How'd you learn to do that?" I muttered my question to the girl before handing her another squirrel.

Kayla shrugged. "My dad and my brother used to hunt a lot... I never liked killing the animals, but there was something about skinning them that I thought was... Fun, I guess... As demented as that sounds."

"Comin' from a chick," I tossed my first skinned squirrel into the pile with Kayla's now first and second, "It's pretty demented."

I noticed Kayla whip her head up from her work on her third squirrel to glare at me, but I just ignored her.

"Oh, whatever." She scoffed at me, "I guess it never bothered me because they were already dead. Now I couldn't care less 'cause it's either him or me..."

Kayla finished skinning her third squirrel, but after she tossed it into the pile she reached into her back pocket instead'a grabbin' a fourth one.

I watched outta the corner'a my eye while she pulled out a pack'a cigarettes 'n a lighter. Quick as lightening, she had one of 'em lit between her lips.

"You seem like the kinda guy that would smoke." Kayla observed while she held the pack out to me.

I furrowed my brows at the cigarettes in her hand before reachin' up 'n pluckin' one from the pack.

"You'd be right... Menthols?" I made a face at Kayla as I grabbed her lighter that sat next to her on the ground.

"They wake me up in the morning." Kayla said at the same time as she was exhalin' a drag. She was cuttin' into her fourth squirrel now.

I took a puff'a my own, holdin' the smoke in my lungs before lettin' it loose. I never liked menthol much, but these days I wasn't one to turn down any kind'a nicotine fix.

"Guess I can't complain," I said to her while I looked back down at the squirrel, "I don't remember the last time I had a smoke."

We were quiet after that. Soon all the squirrels were skinned, 'n Kayla 'n I had smoked through the rest'a the cigarettes she had in her pack.

"I have more." She had assured me when she let me take the last one.

I nodded to her humbly when I lit it up.

"Thanks for the fix, kid." I muttered to Kayla. Smoke leaked from my lips with the words. "Had a lot on my mind lately."

She seemed like she was annoyed that I called her 'kid', but I guess she got over it pretty quick, 'cause I saw her grin a little.

"No problem." She replied to me. She didn't have her sassy attitude anymore, at least not in that moment. "Always happy to help a fellow smoker out."

She actually wasn't that bad to talk to... But I wasn't plannin' on makin' a big habbit've it.

"I think my squirrels look better than yours." Kayla said suddenly, and I raised my eyebrow at her bold comment while she studied the pile of fresh meat.

"Oh, ya do, huh...?" I asked, pullin' on the cigarette in my lips and tryin' to keep a straight face. "I don't think so... But they're alright, I guess."

"They're pefect and you know it!" Kayla taunted me, wavin' her own cigarette all around. I shook my head 'n she crossed her arms in a huff, "You just don't wanna admit that I'm not useless like you thought I was."

I raised my eyebrows at the young girl in mid-drag of my cigarette, 'n slowly let the smoke outta my lungs.

"Don't get too ahead'a yerself." I said to Kayla, 'n she narrowed her eyes at me... Whoa, they were two different colors... I'd never noticed until now.

Suddenly, I heard the main door to the cafeteria open on the other side'a the building. Then, footsteps started comin' our way.

"Kayla?" A man's voice hollered out, and Danny came strollin' around the corner.

He froze in his track when he saw the two'a us sittin' against the wall.

"Oh.. There you are." He said to Kayla after a second, but I felt like he was lookin' at me 'n not her.

"Hey, Danny," Kayla greeted him while stubbin' the lit ember of her cigarette butt into the cement.

"What're you doin' out here?" He asked her, but it sounded sharper, more like a demand. I felt my eyes narrow a little bit as I gnawed at my cigarette's filter.

"I was just helping Daryl skin these squirrels..." Kayla told the tall blonde slowly, "Why, what's up?"

"Nothin', Zach was lookin' for you." Danny told her. His scruffy jaw was clenched tightly.

What was this dude's deal...? I stared him straight in the eyes each time I saw him turn them on me.

"Oh, okay." Kayla complied and stood up, "I'll see you later, Daryl."

I lifted my hand in a limp wave, without a word. Danny's eyes seemed to linger on me, and since Kayla's back was turned, I flipped him the bird.

It might'a been childish, but I didn't like his attitude.

Danny looked like he wanted to come back at me with some smartass insult or somethin', but I could tell he was holdin' his tongue because'a Kayla.

As she rounded the corner, I noticed him drop his hand to the small'a her back, like he was tryin' to guide her 'n be chilvalrous... But it was pretty obvious she wanted no part'a that.

As soon as his hand touched her, she shrugged away from him, softly pushin' his hand off her. When they turned the corner she whispered somethin' to him, but I couldn't hear her.

Then, the door opened, fell closed again, 'n it was quiet.

I shook my head as I finished the cigarette in my hand, flickin' the filter away from me.

"What a fuckin' douche..."

-TO BE CONTINUED-


	10. Chapter 10: Secrets Revealed

-KAYLA POV-

Danny and I were quiet while we walked away from Daryl and back into the still empty cafeteria; no one else was up yet. We split up when the door shut behind us, and I strayed over to one of the tables and took a seat. I glared at the back of Danny's blonde head as he passed me by.

I hated when he tried to act like he was my protector... It was annoying, not to mention embarassing. I didn't need anyone to protect me, especially not Danny.

Ever since our group had first come together a year ago, he had been really flirtatious with me, despite Zach telling him multiple times to back off... That just made him cut back to only hitting on me when my brother wasn't around.

But I didn't need Zach to stick up for me every time. I had always been capable of doing it myself. I wasn't scared to be a bitch or tell Danny off, either... But that still didn't stop him from being a creep. He'd always come crawling back with a different perverted joke or sleezy pick up line.

I don't know how many times I told Danny that he was just a friend and member of my group, nothing more. I worded it to him in countless ways, starting out as subtle, polite hints that changed into blunt statements over time.

Still, after all his attempts were shot down, Danny thought I was just playing hard to get. His excuse was that there was no one better left in the world, so I might as well just settle down with him... Romantic, right?

Honestly, I'd rather stick to being single for the rest of my life.

A minute or two after I sat down at the table, I spotted Zach strolling around the corner, coming from the holding cell.

He was in the middle of pulling a blue t-shirt over his head of dark hair, which seemed to grow wilder and more curly every single day.

When he had his shirt on, I waved to him and caught his eye. Zach strolled over to the table and flopped down in the seat across from me, yanking his knee up into his chest so he could relace his boot.

"I was looking for you," Zach told me without looking up, "Why do you always get up so early?"

"You know I suck at sleeping," I reminded him, "I just got up to go get some air this morning... I found Daryl out there and sat with him for a little while."

Zach finished tying the laces on his boot then looked up at me with a raised eyebrow.

"With Daryl...?" He asked me suspiciously, and I rolled my eyes.

"Yea... Daryl," I repeated slowly, "I was just helping him skin some squirrels he caught."

Just as I finished my sentence, I heard the cafeteria door swing open. Zach's hazel eyes were drawn to whoever had walked inside, and I knew who it was without having to turn around, but I did anyway.

It was Daryl, tromping his way across the cafeteria floor. I noticed that he had re-strung the freshly skinned squirrels to his belt, and they swayed back and forth with his stride.

Daryl grabbed a few pieces of firewood from the corner of the large room and tucked them under his arm before turning around again. His eye caught mine as he made his way back to the door, and he gave me a small nod of acknowledgement.

I returned his subtle gesture with a slight wave. Then, he fixed his eyes forward and continued out the door like he had never seen us. I turned back to Zach.

"See?" I said.

"Yea, I see." Zach grumbled back, "Sorry... We haven't been here that long, I still don't know these people... You know how I get."

I smiled at my brother's honesty. It was always refreshing to hear.

"I know," I said softly, "But I'm a big girl, Zach. I can take care of myself... I don't know how long I've been telling you that."

Zach peered at me from across the table, then sighed and ran his hand through the mop of curls on his head.

"I know you feel like you have to protect me, but it must be exhausting worrying about someone else all the time." I continued on, "I can hold my own, Zach. Really."

"I know that." Zach confessed while leaning his elbows on the table and looking to the side, "It's just hard for me to accept it. You're twenty-three now, you're a woman... but I still see my little thirteen year old sister when I look at you."

"Do I really look that young?" I asked my brother with a laugh.

He turned his head back toward me, and I saw a grin form under the dark scruff on his face.

"You know what I mean..." Zach said, "You're grown up. I can't keep you hidden under my wing from everything bad in the world anymore, like I could when you were little... Especially not the way things are now. You're capable of making your own decisions, and trust me..." Zach's eyes got a little sharper, "I know you will."

I gave my brother a sheepish look and twiddled the ends of my hair. Yes, I was a bit of a hassle for him sometimes, I'm sure. But I was stubborn, and I always had been. I couldn't change that, even if I wanted to.

"I'm sorry..." I apologized with a sigh, "I just want to prove to you and everyone else that I can take care of myself, and be a valuable member of a team. Prove that I'm not just... Dead weight."

I paused to make sure my word choice was just right. Zach's eyes softened.

"I get that, Kayla." He said, "I know the world's not the same anymore, and I need to start thinking differently."

Zach reached his arm across the table and wiggled his fingers towards me. I smiled, knowing what this meant.

It was our secret handshake we invented as kids that we always performed when we made promises to each other. The last time we had done this was back before the world turned to shit, when Zach had backed our dad's truck into the big apple tree in our front yard.

The bumper was all bent up and the left tail light was busted, and Zach made me swear not to tell Dad how it happened. Instead, he made up some fake story about an old lady backing into him in a parking lot and taking off.

We had performed the handshake right there in the front yard, and I promised to stick to the fake story... As long as Zach bought me a burrito bowl from Chipotle` that afternoon and brought it to my work, which he was had been willing to work with.

Zach began talking again as I reached across the table and laced my fingers in his.

"I promise I'll try not to be so controling, but you have to promise me something, too." He raised an eyebrow at me and squeezed my hand tight.

I nodded, signaling him to go on.

"I'm not going to tell you to stay inside this fence 24/7... But you have to promise to at least try to be careful and stay out of trouble." He finished.

"Okay, I promise." I said with a nod of agreement. I could work with this compromise.

I could do whatever I wanted, I just had to manage to keep myself out of trouble... How hard could it be?

"Shake?" Zach asked, initiating the ritual.

We bobbed our hands slowly three times, then once more, firm and halting.

"Shook." We both said in unison, looking each other in the eye. That was it, the promise was solid.

Maybe it was just a weird sibling thing... But to us, our handshake was like a super duty pinky promise, or something.

"But, I'll tell you one thing I'll never stop doing." Zach spoke up again after we let go of each other's hands, "And that's protecting my little sister. You're stuck with me for life, sorry to say."

I giggled as Zach shrugged his shoulders at me, and suddenly I remembered what Maggie had said the day before... She was right, I really was lucky to have my big brother here with me.

"Okay," I complied when my giggles had passed, "I can work with that."

Zach then stood up and announced he was going to go find Danny. As he walked away, I could hear baby Judith's tiny morning cries echoeing from the cells to my left. Her cries acted like a sort of alarm clock, and I knew everyone else would be up soon.

No more than ten seconds after that thought had crossed my mind, Beth emerged from one of the cells. She looked a little groggy, her eyes puffy and her blonde hair askew.

She disappeared under the stairwell, most likely peeking into the cell that was directly under it, which was where Rick and Carl slept. Of course, Judith was with them.

I could hear a mix of whispering voices just barely audible over Judith's crying. One voice was light and airy; Beth's, the other deep and husky; Rick's.

I couldn't make out what they were saying, but soon they hushed, and Beth reappeared holding a restless baby in her arms. Her left hand clung to a bottle of formula underneath Judith.

As Beth crossed the cafeteria to sit on the other stairwell, she glanced over at me and smiled.

"Mornin', Kayla..." She whispered softly with a polite nod in my direction.

"Morning." I greeted her with a friendly smile.

After that, Beth was quiet as she covered the rest of the distance to the stairwell. When she sat down, I could hear her softly humming to Judith as she fed her.

Beth was a sweet girl. Quiet, though... That must have been why she and Tina had instantly gotten along so well. When I thought of Tina, I felt compelled to go and see if she and Jessie were up yet.

I pushed myself up from the table and walked straight ahead towards the hall that led to the holding cells. The sun had just barely made its grand entrance for the day, casting a warm orange glow through the windows near the ceiling.

The soft lighting was very soothing... As I rounded the corner, my fuzzy mind caused me to collide with another body coming around the opposite side.

I gasped and stumbled backwards, finding myself face to face with Michonne, who was staring me down.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there..." I apologized to her sincerely, "I was kinda spaced out."

Michonne was silent for a second, then finally spoke as she stepped around me.

"Don't sweat it." She said in a cold tone of voice, and made her way out into the cafeteria.

I turned my head to watch her descend for a second, but ignored our encounter for the most part, and continued down the short hallway that led to the holding cells.

Tina and Jessie were both awake, sitting up in the sunlight that flowed through the small barred window on the back wall.

Jessie sat upright with her lower half still tucked into her blue sleeping bag. She was bunching her long curly hair at the back of her head, using a red scrunchy to tie it back in a bun.

Tina looked up at me from her place on one of the cots, where she was busy writing something down in her dusty, scuffed up diary she had always kept.

"Hey, early bird." She greeted me while finishing the last of her sentence, flipping the diary closed and tucking it back into her backpack.

"Mornin', book worm." I said back to her with a cheeky grin.

I leaned against the steel frame of the door, motioning for Jessie to toss me the hairbrush that was sitting next to her.

She grabbed it and tossed it underhand, and I gracefully snatched it from the air with no problem. I proceeded to brush my hair back away from my face... It needed a wash, but I had no way of getting water for my solar powered shower yet, so tying my hair back into a ponytail was the best I could do for now.

"How'd you guys sleep?" I asked them once my ponytail was secured. I tossed the brush back to Jessie, who was now standing up.

"Pretty good." Jessie replied after she had caught the brush and tucked it away. "What about you? I'm guessing not that good since you weren't here when we all woke up."

"Yea, not so great.." I grumbled while scuffing the toe of my boot at a crack in the floor, "I guess it's just because we're somewhere new."

"Maybe it'll be easier for you to sleep once we're out of this holding cell. " Tina said as she pulled her shoes on.

"Maybe.." I replied absent mindedly.

The girls and I made our way out into the cafeteria. The smell of meat roasting over a fire came wafting in from outside, and I knew it was Daryl cooking up the squirrels.

My stomach growled at the aroma. I used to be the pickiest eater; I hated mushrooms, red meat, onions, squash...I ordered all my sanwhiches plain, burgers with only cheese... Yea, I was one of those people. Now adays, I was happy to just have a half way full stomach.

There were a few more people up now. Rick and Hershel sat at the middle table having a quiet discussion.

Carl had joined Beth on the stairwell. He tickled his baby sister's belly, and smiled as she cooed and kicked her legs. Beth giggled as the two young siblings interacted. Tina ran off to sit with them, and Beth looked up to cheerfully greet her as she approached.

Across the cafeteria on the completely opposite wall, Glenn cuddled close to Maggie... Every time I looked at how in love they were, I felt some sort of dull pain throb in the bottom of my heart... Maybe I was jealous...

As I looked around, I noticed T-Dog, Carol, Zach, Danny and Michonne were missing from the group. They were around somewhere, though.

"Kayla," Hershel called to me, and I noticed him striding toward me on his crutches. "Looks like it's time to change those bandages."

I glanced down at my stomach, and noticed the reddish stain had grown larger and darker.

"You're right..." I agreed with the old man, then looked over at Jesse, "I'll be back in a little bit."

With that, Hershel began to hobble toward his cell, and I followed close behind.

xxxxxx

By the time Hershel had fixed my bandages up, breakfast was finished.

Everyone was up now, and we all sat quietly around the cafeteria, most of us at the tables and a few on the stairwells.

We each had a small bowl or mug of squirrel meat in front of us. It didn't taste too bad, charred and a little gamey, and it felt nice and warm on my stomach.

"Good squirrel, Daryl." Rick piped up between chews.

Daryl nodded, his mouth full and his eyes fixed on the mug in his hand.

"So, we need to go on a run today, right?" Glenn said, his eyes darting around from person to person. "We're almost out of gas."

"Low on medical supplies, too." Hershel added in, "We can't afford for anyone to get seriously injured on what we got now."

"My truck's radiator's gonna blow on the next treck if I don't replace it..." Daryl grumbled from the stairs as he stabbed a cube of meat with his fork.

Rick nodded, acknowledging everyone's suggestions. "We'll head out in the next few hours. We also need to find some things to lock down the prison... padlocks, chains, bungee cords... I don't know who this G person is, but I'm not taking any chances."

We were all quiet for a few minutes, eating and listening to the sounds of our forks clanking against the dishes.

"...I know who it is." Michonne's voice broke the silence, and every head in the room turned toward her.

"What...?" Carol asked in a puzzled tone, as if she was speaking what was on each of our minds.

Michonne set down her bowl and fork, then peered around the room at us.

"I know who G is." She clarified, her eyes stopping at Rick. "I know who he is... And I know where he is. And I know he wants this prison."

It was as if time had stopped. Everyone was staring at Michonne with wide eyes. I finally tore mine away from her and set them on Rick.

His ice blue eyes were fixated on Michonne, and he too slowly set his dishes down.

"Can you tell me..." Rick whispered.

My eyes shot back to Michonne, who nodded her head, then took a deep breath. The tension in the room was so thick, it could be cut with a knife.

Then, Michonne began giving us the details.

"A few miles away from hear, there's a community of survivors by the name of Woodbury..."

xxxxxx

After Michonne's story at breakfast, everyone was speechless.

Turns out there was a large group of people living in the ruins of a town that had been reconstructed and named Woodbury.

Michonne told us that she and a friend of hers that she had been traveling with had crash landed in a helicopter that was supposed to take them to a safe haven, and woken up in Woodbury.

The survivors in the town were ruled by a power hungry, blood thirsty leader that went by the name of the Governour, who had put on a huge front... His people had been brainwashed into obeying his every word, as if he were a God.

And now he wanted this prison to expand his territory... And he was coming for it.

I hadn't even finished my squirrel, having lost my appetite after hearing Michonne's unsettling story.

When Rick, Daryl, and Glenn drove off the lot in the Hyundai to get supplies and gasoline, I excused myself outside to clear my head... But not before grabbing a cigarette and a lighter.

Outside, the sun was bright, but today there were clouds casting shade upon the ground, so it wasn't as hot.

I ignited my cigarette and took a long drag, thinking about what I'd just heard from Michonne in the cafeteria.

A psychotic, power hungry cult leader threatening to come after the prison we lived in with guns blazing? Ontop of the living dead, now we had to fear the living, too...

I sighed and took another hit off the cigarette. As my eyes scanned the lot, I found Carl standing at the gate, staring out into the field.

I tilted my head to the side, wondering what he was doing. So, I strolled over, letting my cigarette hang at my side in my finger tips.

As I got closer to Carl, I could see a sad and distant look on his face as he stared past the gate.

"Hey," I greeted him softly, and as he turned his striking blue eyes up to me I smiled warmly.

"Hi, Kayla." Carl replied, returning the smile, only a bit softer.

I could still see the sadness in his eyes.

"You okay, sweetie?" I asked him as I puffed on my cigarette. I was about half way done with it, and I could feel the buzz from the nicotine.

Carl shrugged.

"I guess so, I don't know..." He said, and I saw his eyes drop down to look at my cigarette, "Smoking's bad for you, you know..."

Why was everyone telling me that lately?

I didn't reply to his comment. Instead I pursed my lips, and tossed the remainder of the cigarette on the ground, grinding it into the cement with the ball of my boot.

"So, what's bothering you?" I asked Carl as I crossed my arms over my chest. "I know you don't really know me that well, but you can talk to me... I won't tell anyone, I promise."

Carl stared up at me for a moment, then turned his piercing blue gaze back out into the field where the walkers droned about mindlessly. Finally, the young boy let out a sigh.

"It's just... ever since..." Carl's voice cracked slightly, but he recovered quickly and regained his composure, "Ever since my mom died and Judith was born, my dad's been acting weird..."

"Weird?" I repeated Carl as I furrowed my eyebrows. "What do you mean...?"

Carl looked at the ground and kicked his shoe at a pebble as he replied to me.

"Just... weird. He talks all night long, and I hear him when he thinks I'm sleeping. He talks to himself... and to Judith..." The boy paused for a moment, "...Sometimes to my mom... But he never talks to me, hardly even when he's awake."

I frowned at what Carl was saying. This was a pretty deep problem for a twelve year old to have...

"Maybe he just doesn't want to scare you, and he doesn't know how else to do it but to distance himself a little." , but Carl shook his head.

"He's losing his mind, Kayla," Carl exclaimed, his sharpness catching me off guard. He almost sounded angry. "He's trying to do too much, taking too much responsibility... I tried to get him to give up on being the leader for a while... Daryl could do it."

I thought for a second what the group would be like with Daryl for a leader, but shook the thoughts from my head and focused on Carl as he kept talking.

"I just wish there was something I could do to bring him back to normal..." He whispered softly.

As he said this, a light bulb clicked on inside my head. the locket!

"Wait here," I told Carl, who looked at me quizically, "I'll be right back."

In record time, I dashed back into the cafeteria, all the way to the holding cell, fished the locket out of my jean shorts that were stuffed into my backpack, and made my way back to Carl without even breaking a sweat.

"Okay," I said to him a bit breathlessly, "I have something for you."

I held the shimmery silver chain up in front of Carl, and he stared at it in awe. As he reached up and took the delicate necklace into his hands, his lips parted to say something, but no sound came out.

"I found it yesterday morning," I informed Carl as I watched him pop open the locket and study the pictures. "It was laying right over-"

Suddenly, Carl lunged forward and embraced me gently around my middle, taking me by surprise and cutting my sentence short.

"Thank you, Kayla..." Carl whispered into my tank top, then pulled his head back and looked up at me with tears in his eyes and a small smile on his lips, "I'm gonna give it to Judith."

"I think that's a great idea." I said to the boy sincerely as I patted his back. "So, does this mean we're friends now?"

Carl nodded and released me, then stood at my side and linked his arm around my waist as we started walking back toward the cafeteria.

"Yea.." He mumbled, "Good friends."

I smiled and draped my own arm over his shoulder, squeezing him toward me, and I heard him laugh a little.

At that moment, Carl had warmed my heart. He and Judith reminded me of myself and my own brother in some way... Carl already loved his baby sister and wanted to protect her with his life.

"Judith's a lucky little girl to have a big brother like you, Carl." I told him as we stopped in front of the door, and he looked up at me one more time as he grabbed the handle.

"Thanks, Kayla... I hope we have a bond like you and Zach have." Carl said to me, "And I hope Judith grows up to be just like you."

With that, Carl opened the door and disappeared back inside, leaving me standing there stunned... But in a good way.

I smiled as the happy warmth in my heart spread throughout my entire body as I replayed Carl's sweet, genuine words over in my mind.

Maybe we did belong with these people after all...

-TO BE CONTINUED-

AN:: Yay! Hope you all liked it (:

I'd also like to say I have a new story posted! it's an X-Men romance fanfiction, for all you ladies who are Wolverine lovers like me ;p It's called 'In the Claws of an Angel'. Right now I've only got the prologue up, but I'm almost done with chapter one.

If you do decide to give it a read, don't forget to vote&comment, pretty please! I love hearing what you guys think! (:

Until next time, fellow Daryl lovers! xx


	11. Chapter 11: Joined Together

AN:: Soooo sorry this took so longggg! D: I've been a little busy, and I guess I had a bit of a mental block on this story. My mind's been all over X-Men and my Wolverine story, which is really taking off (:

I also have it posted on Wattpad; give it a read if you like! Chapter 2 is in the works (:

But now, Daryl and Kayla are back! I missed writing about them (': so hereeee we go!

xxxxxx

"A little tighter."

I squinted into the bright summer sun and looked up at Glenn, who had just called down to me. He was propped up against the fence on a tall ladder, dangerously close to the barbed wire.

I was standing on the ground below him, tightening a thick bungee cord around a rusted part of the metal links. They looked worn and brittle, like they'd snap under anymore pressure.

"How's that?" I asked Glenn as I held the bungee cord in place.

I waited for his approval before I latched the cord. Glenn shook the fence and listened for any rattling. The cord held strong and the fence barely budged, so Glenn gave me a thumbs up.

I quickly latched the bungee cord together before I lost my grip on it, then lowered my hands and backed away. As Glenn climbed down from the ladder, I nodded at our team work.

"Seems pretty solid." I observed.

"Yup, I think that should hold." Glenn agreed while wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Nice job."

He grinned his adorable little grin and held up his hand, and I slapped it in a high five.

"You two finished?" Rick's voice hollered out suddenly from across the lot, where he was working on a few bullet-proof areas with T-Dog, Danny, Zach and Daryl. Glenn and I turned in his direction.

"All patched up!" Glenn called out as he cupped his left hand around his mouth.

"Alright," Rick replied, "Then the hard part's done. Come on inside, I got somethin' to tell everyone."

I looked at Glenn quizically, and he just shrugged. He was as clueless as I was. So, I followed him across the lot and through the cafeteria door.

Everyone was already seated at the tables, except for Rick, who was standing at the front of the group, waiting patiently. Glenn and I sat at a table to his right, joining Maggie and Hershel. They, along with all the others, looked just as confused as I felt.

"What's goin' on, Rick?" Daryl asked.

"Nothing serious," Rick assured the group, "I just have a little announcement."

The room was quiet for a moment, we all simply waited for him to go on. He strolled over to a big steel door on the righthand wall.

"I was going to wait until tomorrow night to do this," Rick began as he fiddled with his keys, "But I think two days is long enough."

I watched as Rick unlocked the steel door and pulled it open, then ducked inside for a second. My stomach fluttered when he came back out holding the make-shift sack Daryl had made that held all our weapons, as well as Michonne's sheathed sword.

Rick tossed the sword to Michonne, who caught it gracefully.

"We've gotten some good information, and lots of help reinforcing this prison. The six of you have proved to me that you want to be part of our group... So its done. Welcome aboard."

Rick set the sack of weapons on the ground, and then motioned for Tina, Zach, Danny, Jessie and I to come claim them.

It felt like we were contestants on The Price is Right, and Bob Barker had just told us to come on dooooown!

We rushed up from our seats and gathered around Rick as he used his razor sharp hunting knife to cut the weapons free.

The sight of our guns, knives and ammo was like a treasure chest full of gold and jewels. Rick stepped back and Zach took his place, sorting through the weapons and passing them out to each of us.

First, he handed Tina her two daggers, her small pistol and her shotgun.

Then Jessie received her metal baseball bat, along with her 9 mm revolver.

Danny didn't wait for Zach and simply reached into the pile, snatching up his machete and his automatic machine gun.

Finally, my brother handed me my sheathed army knife, my two pistols, and my AK-47. I could feel my smile glowing as I hoisted the AK over my shoulder, fastened the pistols to my hips and strapped the knife to my thigh over my jeans.

I had felt so naked and unprotected without all my weapons. Now that I had them back, I felt like myself again.

As I passed my smile around to my group, I could tell they felt just the same as I did. Rick welcomed us while patting our shoulders and shaking our hands, which started a series of hugs between us.

When I released Tina from my embrace and turned to Danny, his tight embrace lingered around my shoulders. I wiggled a bit, but still he didn't loosen his arms.

I managed to wedge my palms between us and pushed myself away lightly. I glared up at the blonde man, as if to ask him what-the-hell?

I whirled away from Danny in a slight huff, and caught Daryl's eyes from across the room. They were stone cold and aimed at Danny in a glare. When he saw I had noticed him, though, his eyes seemed to soften just a little bit, and he looked away.

I made a puzzled face, wondering what that was about... Then, Maggie stepped in front of me with a huge grin on her face.

"I'm glad to have a few more girls around here!" She yipped excitedly while pulling me into a hug, along with Jessie, who had been standing just a few inches behind me and to my left.

When Maggie moved on to give Tina a hug, Carl rushed up to my side. His eyes were sparkling and his freckled cheeks were rosy with joy.

"Kayla, I showed my dad the locket." He informed me over the dull chatter of everyone in the cafeteria.

"Oh, yea?" I said with a smile.

Carl nodded and gave me a hug around my waist. By now the gash had almost completely healed under the bandages. Another day or so, and I wouldn't need them anymore.

"I think he needed to see it." Carl went on as he let go and looked back up at me, "It made him think... I'm pretty sure he's gonna be back to his old self again."

I reached out and squeezed Carl's shoulder. I didn't need to say anything, because as I looked over my shoulder I found myself met with Rick's gaze.

It was soft and accepting, and he smiled as he nodded at me.

I smiled back as Carl rushed off to join his dad, tackling him in a hug.

It amazed me how only a few days ago, we were all strangers, weary of the dangers the others held. But now, it felt as if we were a long, lost family, finally stitching the broken pieces back together.

xxxxxx

-A Few Days Later-

xxxxxx

Judith's cries gently woke me from my light sleep, and as my eyes cracked open I peered around the new cell I shared with Jessie.

It was just like all the others, small with a set of bunkbeds and not much else, but that was just fine for us.

I slowly sat up in my sleeping bag on the bottom bunk, careful not to disturb my best friend, who was still asleep on the top one. A few strands of her curly blonde hair flowed over the edge of the bed, and I avoided them as I stood up to stretch.

Each of our bags were slumped in the corner behind the beds. As I dropped to my knees in front of my own, I noticed Jessie's bag was unzipped. Her inhaler was laying at the very top, and I could see a red '5' on the dial. She had just a few puffs left in that inhaler, and then one more in a box underneath it.

My heart sank as I remembered my promise to her, that I would never let her run out of air... And I was going to keep that promise. I had to figure out a way to get Jessie a few more inhalers...

For now, I just focused on getting ready for the day. I ran my brush through my long hair, and changed out of my dark skinny jeans and white tank top, replacing them with my ratty looking pair of jean shorts and baggy gray t-shirt that had been found on a supply run the day before, amoung a few other articles of clothing. It read: "GCHS SHARKS" on the front in big teal block letters above an appropriate picture of a shark.

I pulled a pair of black thigh high socks up onto my legs, then slipped into a pair of old, black Chuck Taylor high tops that were just my size. Both were also in the haul of clothes from the supply run, and I had been quick to snatch them up.

I strapped all my weapons in place as quietly as possible, keeping an eye on Jessie the entire time. She was a heavy sleeper, so she never budged. I made sure I had my cigarettes and a lighter, then exited the cell.

We were on the second level, which over looked the first. Danny and Zach also shared a cell on our level, which was directly across the way, near the opposite stairwell. We liked to jokingly refer to them as "The Men's Wing" and "The Ladies Wing". It sounded classy.

As I descended the lefthand stairwell which was nearest our cell, I took a headcount of who was up and about.

I saw T-Dog first, laying on the floor doing crunches. He shifted from crunches to push ups, flashing me a nod before he began.

I waved. "Morning."

Next I saw Maggie, Carol, and Beth sitting at one of the tables. They were giggling and chatting over Judith, who giggled and cooed right back at them. She was an adorable little girl, and she was getting so big.

When Maggie's eye caught mine, she waved me over. I smiled and obliged.

"Mornin', Kayla." She greeted me, "How do you like having your own cell now?"

"Good morning, ladies." I said sweetly as I passed my eyes over each of the three. Maggie and Beth smiled warmly, but there was something about Carol's tight lipped grin that seemed... forced. "Well, it's a lot better not having to share a space with two grown men anymore."

The girls giggled. Again, it seemed like Carol was just trying to fake her way through it.

"I'll bet, I can't imagine sharin' one of these cells with a guy." Beth said with a scrunched up nose.

"I can..." Carol muttered as she fiddled with a ruffle on Judith's adorable little dress.

Beth, Maggie and I glanced over her way, but chose to ignore her comment. Instead, Maggie chose to turn the conversation in another direction.

"How's that cut on your stomach?" She asked as her peridot green eyes dropped to the hem of my t-shirt. "Did my daddy fix ya?"

I nodded and lifted the shirt just above my belly button, revealing a fresh, thin scar about four inches long.

"Yup." I said as I dropped my shirt back down, "It's pretty much healed over."

"See? Told ya he can fix anything." Maggie said to me with a cheeky smile.

I giggled and excused myself from the otherwise empty cafeteria, and headed out the door for my morning smoke. Once I walked out the door and onto the cement lot, I saw Rick, Glenn and Zach huddled by the gate. They chattered back and forth, seeming like they were planning something out.

Ever since Rick had decided we had all passed his test of trust a few days ago, he seemed to include Zach in most of his plans. He acknowledged and valued the fact that he had led our group of five since the beginning of this mess, and it made me grin because I knew how hard my brother tried for us all.

"Mornin', boys!" I called out to them as I pulled one of my Marlboro Reds from the pack and stuck it between my lips. They each turned and waved, then continued on with their conversation.

I made my way to the right, heading for the firescape I had become very familiar with. I looked down at the end of my cigarette as I walked, flicking the lighter with one hand and shielding the flame from the wind with the other.

"Hey, kid." A voice called out to me from my left, catching me off guard.

I turned and saw Daryl leaning on his elbows, looking into the engine of the old truck. Grease covered his clothes,arms, and face, smudged on his cheeks and forehead. "Gimme one'a those."

I raised my eyebrow at his demand and placed my free hand on my hip. I took a drag off my cigarette and let the smoke snake from my lips.

"Hey, grease monkey." I copped back at him, "Say please and I'll think about it."

Daryl gave me a look, and I just laughed and rolled my eyes before strolling over and holding the pack out to him. " Relax, it was a joke. Like I really expected you to say please."

We had been doing this for a day or two now, sharing the occassional cigarette in the prison lot. It was nice to have someone else to smoke with, even if it happened to be Daryl.

He ignored my comment and snatched a cigarette out of my pack, then motioned for my lighter.

"And stop calling me 'kid'!" I added in as I tossed him the lighter and pointed my finger at him, "I'm not a kid."

Daryl lit his smoke and glanced at me with raised eyebrows before grabbing ahold of a grungy wrench.

"I'm thirty-eight years old," The gruff redneck pointed out in a grunt as he started to tweak something in the engine, "An' yer twenty three... That's fifteen years' difference."

I leaned up against the side of the truck and took puffs off my cigarette, watching as Daryl's bobbed between his lips while he spoke.

"So?" I provoked while casually tapping ash onto the cement.

"So," Daryl turned to look at me and paused to take a drag of nicotine, "I was already drivin' this truck down to the corner store, behind my daddy's back, to buy baseball cards fer a nickle by the time you came along. Yer a kid, to me."

Daryl flashed me a cocky smirk, and I was thankful for the heat of the sun disguising my blushing cheeks.

That had been happening lately, when I'd catch a glimpse of his lean, toned stomach as he lifted the hood of his truck, or rare occassions like these when I'd see that smirk.

I had to constantly shake those feelings, though. This was Daryl we were talking about; the cocky, egotistical redneck who had hunted me down at bow-point just barely a week earlier. I couldn't have a crush on him.

Plus, that was so childish. A crush? That was something that was a part of the old world, not this one. I knew I couldn't control my instincts of human nature, but I could stiffle them.

There was already enough stress in my life, the last thing I needed to add to it was guy drama.

Finally, I rolled my eyes.

"Yea, yea, whatever." I scoffed, then grinned at Daryl, "I'm younger, so that only means I'm faster and stronger than you, anyways."

This caused him to full on chuckle, puffing out smoke with each breath. "Funny."

I tossed the butt of my cigarette down on the ground and stubbed it out just as Rick called over to Daryl. It caught me off guard, I had forgotten all about the little pow wow he had going on with Zach and Glenn.

"Hey, Dixon!" Rick's voice echoed across the lot, and Daryl stopped what he was doing to look at him.

Dixon...? That must have been his last name. Daryl Dixon...

"We're headin' to town again." Rick continued to holler out, "We forgot a couple things yesterday. C'mon."

Daryl grumbled something to himself before flicking the filter of his cigarette away from him. It skipped on the pavement as he wiped his hands on an already filthy rag hanging off his belt loop.

I followed behind the redneck, chattering to him as we walked.

"I'm coming with you." I insisted to him, and he just gave me a quick side glance.

"That ain't up to me." Daryl replied as we reached Zach, Glenn and Rick. "Talk to yer kin."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Danny heading over from the cafeteria, machete in hand. If he got to go, then I sure as hell would, too.

"Zach, I need to go with you." I changed gears to my brother, remembering our hand shake.

He promised... But as his hazel eyes searched my heterochromial ones, I could tell that promise was wavering in his mind.

"Why?" Zach asked me, "We just need a few things. We'll be back just after dark."

"Jessie needs inhalers." I said as a gust of wind whipped through the lot, tossing my hair around.

"I can get them." Zach countered as Glenn pulled the Hyundai up to us, and the guys began loading it up for the trip.

I followed Zach to the spot near the other vehicles, where seven cannisters of gasoline were lined against the wall of the cafeteria. He picked up one in each hand, and I kept talking.

"You never remember the right kind!" I pointed out as I put my hands on my hips. "I bet you can't even tell me the name of it right now."

Zach shot me an aggravated look as he loaded the gasoline into the SUV. "Yes I can, Kayla. She's only been your best friend for 18 years of my lifetime, I'm pretty sure I can remember the name of her damn inhaler."

I raised my thin eyebrows at my older brother and crossed my arms over my chest.

"Tell me, then." I said, staring at him expectantly.

"Mirisom B. With the green cap." Zach replied matter-of-factly, but I instantly shook my head.

"Mirisom D, with the red cap." I corrected him sharply.

Zach glanced at Rick, Daryl, and Glenn, who were staring at us as we bickered.

"Alright, alright." He said defensively, "I got it now."

"Uh-uh," I shook my head, "I don't trust your shitty memory."

Zach began to protest, but Rick cut him off.

"It's only a short trip," He started to say, "And Glenn's staying here with Maggie, so we got an extra seat. Town's usually vacant, anyway."

I grinned at Rick as a sort of thank you for taking my side. He smiled and nodded back at me as Zach thought for a moment. Finally, he let out a reluctant sigh of defeat.

"Okay, you get your way. You can come." He caved, "But you better be careful."

"Psh." I scoffed at my brother before climbing into the backseat. "I'm a badass, I don't need to be careful."

Rick laughed outloud from the driver's seat as he turned the key and ignited the Hyundai's engine. "If only we all had your outlook on life, Kayla."

xxxxxx

It had been so long since I'd seen the world outside the woods and the prison... At least it felt like it.

We had been driving along a worn path in the grass for about an hour now, having made it out of the woods a few miles back. The guys chattered quietly, but I wasn't paying any attention to what they were saying... I was lost staring out the window, watching the world zip by.

The sky was blue and filled with billowy white clouds. The sun was bright, shining down on the lush green grass. Every now and then I'd spot a walker or two mixed in with the serene vegetation, and by now they were just part of the scenery.

Suddenly, the vehicle came to a stop. I leaned into Zach, who was seated in the middle after losing a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. Out the front windshield there was a highway clogged with abandoned cars as far as the eye could see.

Just a week or so before, I'd seen that very same highway, but from a distance. Tina and I had spied it through the trees while we were all finding our way through the woods. I had wanted to scour the cars, but of course Zach had thought it was too dangerous...

But now, as Rick shut off the Tuscon's engine and popped the driver's side door open, I had a feeling I was going to get a chance to scour.

"We've gotta continue on foot from here." Rick informed us before stepping out of the vehicle.

Daryl did the same from the passenger side, and Zach, Danny and I crawled out from the backseat.

"This way." Daryl grunted and led us to the right while Rick locked the Tuscon.

We stepped up onto the road, and I shielded my eyes from the bright sun as I peered down the long river of broken down, abandoned heaps of metal.

Danny crept up a few cars, leaning down and peering inside the cab of an ugly purple Buick. He scrunched up his scruffy face in disgust, poking the decaying body of the driver with the tip of his machete.

"Looks like this poor bastard's been bakin' here for a while.." He grumbled, "Hey, there's a few rolls of duct tape in the backseat."

"Can you grab them?" Zach asked as he walked to his side.

"The town's up this way about a mile or two..." Rick informed us as he walked up ahead, "You can see why we have to go on foot from this point... Just step lightly and be alert. Walkers can creep up on ya pretty quick."

"Gotcha." I said to Rick as I strolled along, peering into cars. So far, I didn't see anything useful.

Our group moved slowly and efficiently, spreading out a little bit over the road.

Daryl was closest to me, four cars ahead. He was ducked into the backseat of a white GMC SUV, rummaging through the floorboards. Rick, Zach, and Danny were still a little ways behind me.

I strayed off to the side, a red two seater on the edge of the road catching my eye. Both doors were thrown open, allowing me to see the grass on the other side.

There was blood splattered all over the gray interior, and the windshield had been smashed out. Sitting on the driver's seat was a brown leather purse. It was unzipped and tilted over, its contents spilling out and falling into the floor board.

I crept closer to it, broken glass and garbage crumpling under my Chuck Taylors. My finger tips reached out and gingerly sifted through the contents of the purse as I kneeled next to the car.

I felt my stomach flutter as I discovered a green Bic lighter. I sparked it to make sure it worked, then stuck it into my pocket. I dug deeper into the purse, almost jumping for joy as I came across a pack of Virginia Slims. I opened flipped it open and counted eight cigarettes... Good enough to keep.

There wasn't much else inside the purse other than a tube of lipstick, some change and a few receipts, so I set it down and started to search the rest of the car.

There was a gold wallet laying near the brake pedal, next to an empty Lay's potato chip bag. I knew it wasn't anything that would be of use to me, but I snagged it out of curiosity and popped it open.

What I found inside struck me a little too close to home... The ID of the girl the wallet and most likely the car belonged to was still inside. She was a thin, blonde girl with glasses, and the birthdate on the card meant she was 25, just too years older than I was... Her name was Ashley Marie Middleton.

The blood smears all over her debit cards and family photos gave me a pretty clear clue what had happened to her... I shut the wallet and put it back where I found it, trying to erase the horrible images from my thoughts.

Instead, to keep myself busy, I continued on the real mission of searching for useful supplies. There was nothing in the driver's side or the center console, so I carefully leaned over into the passenger seat.

There were a few candy wrappers and some pens in the seat, and a bloody, ripped up map in the floorboard, but not much else. I decided to try the glovebox before moving on.

I reached up with my left hand and tried to pop the glovebox open, but it was caught on something from the inside. I jiggled it, but I just couldn't manage to pry it open... So I climbed inside the car, propped my knees in the driver's seat, and tried to muscle the glovebox open with both hands.

"Come... on.." I grumbled, and finally the small latch gaveway, allowing me access. I grinned in triumph.

My joy was short lived, though...

Just as the glovebox surrendered and fell open, two sets of boney, decaying fingers wrapped themselves in a death grip around my wrists.

I froze in terror as I looked up, finding myself face to face with a pair of rotten, bloody teeth, snapping at my face and neck in hunger.

A walker had me in its grasp, snarling and screeching, yanking me closer... And it was so strong, no matter how hard I struggled, I couldn't get away.

I squeezed my eyes shut and let out an ear wrenching scream as I awaited the horrible pain of being eaten alive. I could feel the walker's hot, disgusting breath in my hair as I thrashed about.

Just as I thought I was done for, a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around my waist, and I was ripped to safety...

-To Be Continued-


	12. Chapter 12: Calm Before the Storm

-DARYL POV-

Walkin' along this abandoned highway like I'd done about a million times before, I knew we weren't gonna find nothin' useful. You could only scour these old cars so many times before everything just started lookin' like piles'a garbage.

Still, Rick wasn't one to pass up opportunity. So every time we made a run into town, we checked the cars for supplies.

I strolled on up ahead, just glancin' into the open trunks an' rolled down windows, knowin' they'd pretty much already been picked clean.

When I looked back over my shoulder an' noticed everyone else was fallin' behind a little bit, I let out a frustrated sigh. Couldn't we just get into town, get what we needed an' get the hell out?

I figured I couldn't rush 'em, so I wandered over to a white GMC SUV, messin' with the back passenger door.

The handle jiggled an' popped open, surprisin' me a little bit. I leaned into the backseat an' sifted through a bunch of random trash; Candy wrappers, old news papers, soda cans, stuff like that.

I was about to give up an' stop wastin' my time in that SUV, when somethin' glintin' underneath the driver's seat caught my eye. I squinted at whatever it was, then reached my hand out toward it.

My fingers clasped around somethin' cool an' smooth, obviously made'a metal. When I pulled my arm back and held my palm up to see what I had grabbed, I saw a Zippo lighter.

It was silver with black lace designs on it, an' it looked brand new. I flipped open the cap an' sparked the flint to make sure it worked, which it did. I chewed the inside'a my cheek while I turned the silver Zippo over in my fingers.

I thought about just puttin' it back where I found it. It was a little too girly for me to be seen carryin' around, but it was a source'a fire. Plus, I knew someone who'd probably like it...

I dropped the lighter into my pocket, just as a loud scream filled the air. I scrambled outta that backseat faster than a jack rabbit in huntin' season, pointin' my already loaded crossbow in every direction.

The scream rang out again from behind me, an' I whirled around. It was Kayla, it had to'a been... But I couldn't see 'er anywhere.

Rick, Zach, and Danny were spread out maybe twelve or thirteen cars back, and by the frantic looks on their faces, they couldn't find 'er, either.

"KAYLA!" Zach's scream echoed up to me while I frantically retraced my steps, "WHERE ARE YOU!"

I knew him yellin' an' carryin' on right now was just gonna attract the geeks, but that ship had already sailed.

It felt like static electricty rushed from my brain and out to my fingers and toes as I finally spotted Kayla. She was just a few yards away, scrunched up in the front seat of a little red two seater. Her back was facin' me an' as I bolted to her, I could see she was strugglin' against somethin'.

That could only mean one thing... A walker.

I ran up behind Kayla, realizin' I was right. One'a those freaks had her by both wrists, tryin' with all its might to drag her out through the other side and make lunch outta her.

Without even thinkin', I wrapped my left arm around 'er tiny waist, pullin' 'er body into mine. The walker still had a good grip on Kayla's wrists, so it was comin' right along with 'er.

As the undead freak let out a high pitched squeal, I aimed my bow at its head, firin' an arrow into its skull at point blank range.

The body flew backwards outta the cab, and I ripped Kayla back into the road. I took my arrow as a loss.

"You bit?!" I frantically asked her while I held her out in front'a me by her shoulders.

I spun her around and looked her over before she slapped my hands away.

"No, no! I'm fine!" She said back to me, her voice quiverin'.

I could see now that she really was fine, she had no punctures in 'er skin. She was just shaken up an' terrfied, understandably.

"Guys," Danny's voice called up to us, "We got company comin'!"

An' we did. Walkers were creepin' out from the woods all around us, weavin' through the cars an' blockin' us in. They were drawn to all the screamin', an' now there was nothin' that was gonna stop 'em but a mouthful'a flesh.

Kayla went for her gun, but I grabbed her arm an' stopped her.

"There's too many of 'em." I hissed at 'er, "Don't waste yer ammo."

"What are we gonna do, then...?!" She asked desperately as she looked back an' forth between the freaks comin' at us.

There wasn't any time to think. I just acted on the first thing that came to my mind... I grabbed a hold'a Kayla, squeezed 'er tight to my body, ducked to the ground an' rolled underneath a van to our right... Just in time.

We were both breathin' heavy as we layed on the oily asphalt. Pairs'a confused feet in worn out shoes shuffled by us, seemin' like they'd never stop comin'. I really hoped Rick had seen me duck under the van, an' done the same with Zach an' Danny.

The walkers just kept comin', startin' to bump into each other an' get a little congested between the cars. Their moans turned into angry snarls, an' I knew there was no way we could wait this out. If we tried, we'd be trapped there for hours.

"Yer gonna hafta crawl." I whispered to Kayla, my voice soundin' husky.

She looked back at me as if I had just said somethin' to 'er in spanish.

"Go! Move...!" I barked at 'er, and she started to crawl.

We stayed underneath all the broken down vehicles, and the feet were still comin', walkin' in the opposite direction. I tried lookin' back behind us for Rick, but I couldn't see him.

"You better not be staring at my ass." Kayla mumbled from in front'a me, which made me look forward... straight at her ass.

I had to admit, it was pretty easy on the eyes... Especially in those jean shorts she had on, and the crawlin' motion didn't help my testosterone much, either...

"I ain't lookin'..." I lied back in a grumble.

We crawled for what seemed like forever, until finally we reached a point in the road that was free'a walkers. I reached out an' tapped the heel'a Kayla's sneaker, makin' her look behind her an' straight at me.

"I think we lost 'em." I mumbled up to 'er, then nodded toward the road, "Crawl out here, should be safe now."

Her two different colored eyes flashed out to the road before she wiggled out from under the car, an' I followed right behind.

"You alright?" I asked my young group member as I dusted myself off.

"Yea.." She replied, lookin' down at 'er scraped up knees. "Guess I picked the wrong day to wear shorts."

She gazed out over the cars toward the swarmin' walkers a few hundred yards away, lookin' worried... I knew she was thinkin' about Zach.

I was just about to tell 'er I was sure they had been smart enough to get away in time, but I didn't have to. One by one, they slid out from under three different cars.

First Zach, who was bombarded in a hug from his sister, then Rick, then Danny, who was givin' me a dirty look. I narrowed my eyes at him, about to ask him what the hell his problem was, but Rick cut me off.

"Everyone okay?" He asked seriously, lookin' at each of us.

We all just nodded, still speechless from our brush with death. But these days, it was normal.

"Good..." Rick sighed, runnin' his hand through his hair, "Let's keep moving, then."

He walked on in front'a us, Zach followin' close behind. Danny passed me by, glarin' outta the corner'a his eye. I stared him down, even after he passed.

"Hey," Kayla's voice caught my attention, "Thanks... You know, for kinda saving my ass back there. I blanked out."

I looked down at 'er, pressin' my lips into a tight line.

"Yea, well..." I paused to shift my crossbow onto my shoulder, "Don't start expectin' it. Just survival instincts."

She tilted her head at me, lookin' confused. But I just turned on my heel, then followed the guys down the highway, leavin' Kayla to trail along behind.

-KAYLA POV-

The five of us had been walking along the highway for a few miles now. The long train of broken down cars had come to an end a little while ago, and suddenly Rick led us off the road and through a thick wooded area.

"It's not too much further." Rick informed us as we burst through the brush, "There."

We all stopped behind Rick, staring out to where he was pointing across an open field of tall, dry weeds. The life had been sucked out of them by the summer sun, and they swayed in the breeze.

At the very edge of the other side of the field, I could see the buildings of the town we were headed to.

xxxxxx

The town looked almost exactly like I pictured it in my head, a worn down wasteland. I sort of expected to see a tumbleweed or two to roll past us.

As we walked silently through the barren streets, I could see desperate messages spray painted on the walls of buildings, and even on the billboards and water tower. I could only imagine how long those people must have waited before they realized help wasn't ever going to be on its way...

Blood was splattered all over the sidewalks, and broken glass from store fronts and car windows was smashed all over the place in fine shards that crunched under our shoes as we walked over them.

We passed a school, a library, and an overgrown baseball diamond before finally reaching a Winn-Dixie grocery store.

"Stay alert." Rick warned us as he pried the previously automatic doors open, allowing us inside. Once he passed through, they clamped shut behind him.

My mind was focused on one thing: Jessie's inhalers. I made a B-line for the pharmacy, cutting through the condiment aisle, which was still somewhat stocked, and turning a corner around what used to be a display of paper towels.

The pharmacy looked like it had been ransacked more than once, but there was still a decent amount of medicine and other things to sift through.

I just hoped and prayed that there was at least one Mirisom D inhaler laying around in the mix. I started to search the shelves, and didn't have to go far to find the asthma section.

There were a few different inhalers scattered across the shelf. My heart sank as my eyes scanned the boxes... None of them were right.

I sighed and drooped my head, starting to feel discouraged, until my eyes caught a familier purple box right next to my left Chuck Taylor. I gasped and quickly leaned down to snatch the box, holding it gingerly in my hands.

Mirisom D was printed across the top of the box, and the picture of the inhaler on the front had the red cap that I was looking for.

I shook the box and listened to the inhaler bounce around inside, smiling with joy. I zipped it up in my backpack, then walked around the pharmacy and grabbed a few other things we needed; Aspirin, bandages, rubbing alcohol, sterile needles, and a spool of thick thread.

When everything was securely zipped up inside my backpack, I started to make my way back out into the main part of the grocery store, when suddenly something latched onto my arm from behind.

I gasped and whirled around, ripping free from whatever held me, which I quickly discovered was Danny.

"Jesus christ, Dan," I breathed, "You scared the shit out of me."

Danny grumbled a half hearted apology, then asked if I had a second to talk.

I narrowed my eyes a little bit at his aggravated tone, but went along with his request.

Danny then grabbed my wrist abruptly, pulling me to the back of the pharmacy, despite me telling him to let go.

Finally, he dropped my wrist and glared down at me.

"What the hell, Danny, what's your problem?" I demanded as I rubbed my wrist lightly.

"I could ask you the same thing." Danny snorted with a sneer.

"Uuuh, excuse me...?" I asked. I knew my face had to look as dumbfounded as my voice sounded.

"Mind telling me why you're gettin' so cozy with that Daryl guy?" Danny growled, his voice low and his arms crossed over his chest.

"What are you even talking about?" I asked as I scrunched up my thin eyebrows.

"I'm talking about how the two of you go sneakin' off in the lot together, doin' god knows what." Danny snapped, taking a step closer to me, "Then he wants to play hero out there on the highway, and you just let him put his hands all over ya."

I stood with my eyes wide, staring at him in disbelief.

"Whoa, whoa." I cut him off as he started to say something else, "First of all, I don't know why you think its your business all of a sudden, but the only reason I hang out with him in the prison lot is because we smoke cigarettes."

Danny narrowed his eyes at me and chewed his bottom lip.

"Whatever." He barked at me, unable to think of anything else to say, "Isn't he like 40, anyway? What business do you have hangin' around with him?"

"Since when are you my keeper, Danny?" I growled, now taking a step closer to him, "He's 38. You're 31. What business do I have hanging around you?"

"I'm part of your group, Kayla," Danny hissed, "You never wanted to give me the time of day but as soon as this redneck bastard blinks at ya, you throw yourself all over-"

Danny's voice cut out as I became blinded by rage. The next thing I knew, my open palm was stinging after it had sharply struck his scruffy cheek.

"He saved my life." I hissed, "You're not my boyfriend, Danny, and you never were. Daryl's part of my group now, too. Our group. Quit acting like you have a right to know what I'm doing or who I'm spending my time with."

Danny just stared at me, and I could see anger welling up in his dark blue eyes.

Before either of us could say anything more, I turned and stormed out of the pharamacy, leaving Danny behind. There had to be a liquor aisle somewhere, and I really hoped I could find something salvagable.

Luckily, I didn't have to look too hard. The liquor was just three aisles over from the pharmacy, but it looked like a grenade had gone off. Broken bottles were laying around everywhere, but there were still a few in tact on the shelves that I could look through.

The overwhelming smell of dried up alcohol reminded me of old high school and college parties, and I tried to silence the happy memories inside my mind. I stepped around the large, jagged shards of glass and eyed the bottles on the shelves.

I scrunched my nose up at the sight of SKYY vodka bottle, remembering a time when Jessie and I had polished off an entire handle by ourselves one Saturday night. Sunday morning hadn't been too pretty...

I scanned the other bottles on the shelves, spotting two skinny bottles of wine at the very end. I smiled, I loved wine... I just hoped they were decent brands. I skipped over to them. One was a light pink Sunset Blush and one was a deep red Merlot. They were Shutter Home brand, which I was pretty happy with. I picked them up an settled them gently in my backpack, wedging a pack of bandages between them.

I had room in my bag for maybe one more small bottle, so I crouched down and peered at the bottom shelf. I didn't see much of anything but broken glass, until my eyes landed on a bottle of cinnamon colored liquor tipped over on its side. I strained my arm, reaching back for the bottle.

My fingertips walked along the smooth glass, rolling the bottle toward me. When it was within my reach, I grabbed it with both hands and turned it toward me so I could read the label. My eyes sparkled at the word Fireball.

"Oooo.." I cooed.

"Find anything good?" A voice said from my right.

I turned my head to see Zach standing at the end of the aisle. I smiled and showed him the bottle, and he wiggled his eyebrows.

"Heeeey, jackpot!" He said as I stood up and made my way over to him.

"I know, right?" I agreed, twisting off the cap, "Want some?"

"Ladies first." Zach insisted with a grin.

I shrugged and took a swig. The strong, spicy-sweet taste of cinnamon coated my mouth, warming my chest and belly as it slid down my throat. I smacked my lips together as I handed the bottle to Zach, who tilted it up and took a good gulp.

"Aah.." He breathed while capping the bottle, "Smooth."

I laughed a little bit as I zipped the bottle of Fireball up inside my backpack. "Where are Rick and Daryl?"

"Rick's grabbing some canned food," Zach said as we started making our way back to the front of the store, "Last time I saw Daryl he was heading toward the pharmacy."

My stomach fluttered a little, wondering if Daryl had overheard my conversation... But I didn't know why I felt so nervous about it. So what if he heard what I said?

-DARYL POV-

"Find anything good, Daryl?" Rick asked, "I got some Spaghetti-O's and green beans."

I was standin' next to Rick in the canned food aisle. He was crouched down on the floor scourin' the bottom shelf, an' I was checkin' what was left on the top shelf.

"How 'bout... Three family sized cans'a chicken noodle soup?" I said while I pulled the cans out an' read the labels.

"Throw 'em in." Rick replied as he held his bag open, an' I tossed the three cans inside. "I need baby formula for Judith... You mind grabbin' it for me? I think it's in the back of the store, near the pharmacy."

"Sure, man." I muttered to Rick, "Be right back."

I walked to the end'a the aisle an' took a right, makin' my way to the back of the store. The baby formula was right in front'a the pharmacy, just like Rick had told me. There were a few different kinds, an' I grabbed all that I could fit in the empty space in my bag.

I was just about to turn an' head back to Rick when I overheard two hushed voices comin' from the pharmacy... Sounded like an argument.

Keepin' as quiet as I could, I crept closer to the pharmacy, stayin' hidden behind an empty shelf. I could hear the voices clearly now, it was Kayla an' Danny, an' it sounded heated.

"I'm part of your group, Kayla," I heard Danny growl, "You never wanted to give me the time of day but as soon as this redneck bastard blinks at ya, you throw yourself all over-"

I scowled. I knew he talkin' about me, but before he could finish his sentence, a sharp slappin' sound shut him up. When Kayla's angry voice started up, I knew she had slapped Danny.

"He saved my life." She hissed, "You're not my boyfriend, Danny, and you never were. Daryl's part of my group now, too. Our group. Quit acting like you have a right to know what I'm doing or who I'm spending my time with."

My face softened a little when she said this. Then, I could hear her footsteps stormin' in my direction, so I pressed myself up against the shelf to stay hidden. Kayla walked right passed me without even noticin' an' I watched her back as she turned a corner to the left.

When she had disappeared, I stepped out from the aisle just in time to come face to face with Danny. His left cheek was blazin' red from where Kayla slapped him, just like I thought.

We had a stare down for a few seconds before Danny narrowed his eyes. I didn't waste anymore time with him an' just side-stepped around him, makin' my way back to where Rick was.

I didn't know what that guy's damn problem was, but I was sure it was 'cause he thought I was makin' a move on Kayla, who he obviously wanted for himself.

"Psh.." I grunted to myself at the thought.

Even with dead people walkin' the Earth, this guy had jealousy issues. Pathetic.

There were way more important things to be worryin' about than competin' with someone over a woman, but I guess Danny didn't realize that.

Whatever, no skin off my nose. I just knew he had better straighten up, or it wasn't gonna be pretty.

xxxxxx

-KAYLA POV-

When we finally got back to the prison, it was after dark. Once Carl had closed and locked the gate behind the Tuscon, I eagerly hopped out of the backseat so I could stretch my legs.

Daryl, Danny, and Zach followed my lead and stepped out of the SUV, leaving Rick to park it on the side of the cafeteria.

I was already to the cafeteria door, pulling it open and walking inside. Just as I thought, no one was awake, so I quieted my footsteps as I made my way up the lefthand stairwell.

Inside my cell, Jessie was sound asleep on the top bunk, clutching her inhaler in her hand. I peeked at the dial and saw a big red '0'. I frowned... She'd used up another one.

I sighed as I unlaced my Chuck Taylors and kicked them off my feet.

Before I slid into bed for the night, I tucked the inhaler I had found at the store for Jessie inside her bed.

As I layed in my sleeping bag on the bottom bunk, I prayed to God, begging him not to take my best friend away from me...

-TO BE CONTINUED-


	13. Chapter 13:Another Day, Another Casualty

xxxxxx

xxxxxx

"Mom?... Dad?..."

My voice echoed through my family's dark, empty house. I traveled from room to room upstairs, feeling like I was floating... I couldn't sense my feet touching the floor.

Each room was empty; The three bedrooms, the bathroom, the den... So I felt my body drift down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Hello...?"

Still, I couldn't find my family. There was no one in the kitchen, the living room, in the downstairs bathroom, or on the back porch. There was only one place left: the basement.

Suddenly, I was standing right in front of the basement door. It slowly creaked open on its own, and I could see both my parents standing at the bottom of the staircase. Their backs were turned to me, and a sudden shiver of fear shook my spine... Something wasn't right.

"...Mom...?" My voice croaked... it sounded so far away.

Slowly, my mom turned around while my dad stood eerily still. My heart pounded faster and faster until she finally faced me. I tried to scream, but my voice was gone. For some reason, I couldn't remember how to use my voicebox.

I was stuck in that spot at the top of the staircase, forced to stare into my mothers white, foggy eyes and the yellowing, decaying skin falling from her face, exposing the skull beneath. Thick, bloody slobber hung from her chin and stained the front of her night shirt.

On her neck, I could see a huge, open wound... A bite mark.

The thing that used to be my mother opened its jaws, staring me straight in the eyes and piercing my soul. But instead of the horrible scream I thought I was going to hear come from its mouth, I heard... Gun fire...

xxxxxx

xxxxxx

I sat straight up in my sleeping bag, the sound of mixed voices shouting and bullets firing ringing in my ears. I instinctively jumped out of my bunk, still a little disoriented, and scrambled to lace my converse high tops onto my feet.

"EVERYONE WAKE UP!" Rick's scream echoed from downstairs, "WE'VE BEEN BREACHED! WALKERS! COME ON, GET UP!"

Now I was awake. I rushed to Jessie, who was amazingly still asleep on the top bunk. I put both hands on her shoulders and violently shook her.

"Jess!" I said urgently, "JESSIE!"

She woke with a start, and I didn't waste any time. I grabbed her shoes from the floor and tossed them at her.

"Hurry!" I shouted while I armed myself with my weapons in record time.

In a split second, Jessie was by my side grabbing her baseball bat and her gun. By now she had caught on to the screaming downstairs.

"What's going on?!" She cried out as we dashed out of the cell, heading straight for the stairwell.

"I don't know," I yelled over the sound of everyone frantically scrambling through the cafeteria. Carol rushed into a cell with baby Judith in one arm and a machine gun in the other, "Rick said walkers breached the fence..."

Glenn dashed right in front of us, gun in hand, screaming at us to come outside and help. Without waiting for a response, he busted through the door and disappeared outside... I could hear Rick and Hershel calling to each other, and I caught a glimpse of a group of three walkers chasing T-Dog across the lot.

"Jessie! Kayla!" Tina's terrified shriek caught my attention, and as I turned toward the direction it came from I saw her heading toward us with Maggie and Beth at her side. Each of them was armed with a handgun.

"Hurry, we gotta get out there and help before the guys get eaten alive!" Maggie urged us as she headed to the door.

We all nodded and followed her, and I braced myself for what I was about to see.

Outside in the lot, it was like a horrific nightmare come to life, much worse than the one that had woken me up. It was still the middle of the night, so the only light we had was from the pale moon.

Walkers were crawling everywhere, focing Jessie, Maggie and I to immediately race to our left. Maggie screamed out for Beth as she and Tina were seperated from us, four hungry walkers chasing after them.

"TINA!" Jessie yelled out, "BE CAREFUL!"

She swung her metal baseball bat with all her might, smashing the skull of a tall female walker.

Three more freaks were staggering after me, and I dodged each of their hungry, outstretched arms as I darted to the right. I slammed my back up against the brick wall of the cafeteria. I whipped my pistols out from their hulsters and pointed them straight at the walkers headed in my direction.

I fired off six shots, taking them all to the ground just as Michonne passed in front of me. She hacked two walkers at the same time with the razor edge of her sword, but there was one more behind her that she hadn't noticed. The undead beast trudged closer, snapping its jaws at her neck. I pointed my pistol in her direction.

"MICHONNE!" I screamed out, "DUCK!"

Her long dreads whipped around her head as she looked at me. When she saw my gun pointed her way, she followed my instructions and dropped to the ground, just as I fired a shot and took out the walker behind her. The bullet struck right under the eye, blowing half its skull to pieces. Michonne stood up as the body slumped over, staring down at the bloody mess. She glanced back up at me, nodding a 'thank you' in my direction.

I didn't have time to return her gesture, though, because before I knew it, a whole herd of walkers came storming around the corner. If Michonne and I didn't move fast, we'd be ripped to shreds in about five seconds flat.

"Let's go," Michonne growled loudly as she grabbed my wrist and started running, "Come on! We have to move!"

I ran along with her as fast as I could, glancing behind me at the walkers and firing a few shots into the crowd. Some bodies dropped, but it barely made a dent. They were still coming at us full force, even with Glenn and Hershel firing at them from behind.

"There!" I gasped as I pointed to the fire escape I'd become familiar with.

I knew we could climb that fire escape and have a much better view on the entire lot. We could pick off the walkers more easily that way, not to mention we could figure out where they were coming in from... The only problem was there had to be at least 15 living corpses in our path.

We had no other choice but to risk it.

Michonne and I made a B-line for the fire escape, making our way past the vehicles... But we were taken by surprise by a huge walker stumbling around the Cherokee... It was a male, and it was bald and had to be at least six feet tall, weighing close to 250 pounds. I gaped up at him as he opened his jaws and let out a roar, his yellow, bloodshot eyes locked onto us. The beast made a lunge for us, and Michonne tossed me to the side, throwing me off balance.

"Oomf..!" I grunted as I hit the ground belly-first. The force from the fall tossed my pistols from my hands and I watched as they skidded across the pavement, coming to a stop about 10 feet away underneath Daryl's truck.

The wind had been knocked out of me. I wheezed and willed my muscles to move, but my arms and legs felt like they weighed a ton. My reflexes were sluggish, and I looked behind me as I tried my hardest to stand up. I had my AK-47 strapped to my back, but I couldn't will my arms to reach over my shoulder and grab it.

Michonne was busy with the obese walker, slicing and dicing its arms as it stumbled around and reached for her. She swiped for its neck, but it wobbled in just the right way and all the blade caught was the collar of its green shirt.

My heart stopped as I saw another group of walkers had spotted me laying helpless on the ground. A female at the head of the pack shrieked loudly, alerting the rest of them, and they all rushed toward me. My breathing became jagged as I fumbled with numb fingers to grab my AK, and finally I mustered the strength. I pulled the gun from it's strap on my back, rolled over and pointed the barrel toward the herd coming my way.

I clenched my teeth as I pulled the trigger, keeping a good grip on the butt of the gun. This was a much more powerful weapon than my pistols, so it was a little harder to control. The sound of the bullets firing from the barrel was almost deafening, but I'd take losing my hearing over losing my life. I emptied an entire magazine into the crowd of undead, holding the trigger until the last shell flew out and tinked against the cement. Still, more were coming my way.

Michonne had long since slayed the enormous walker and had been forced to flee to the other side of the lot, leaving me helpess and alone until I managed to pop another magazine into my gun. My fingers trembled as I tried to do just that, but it wasn't happening fast enough. I quickly looked up to see how much distance the walkers had closed between us. They were about 12 steps away from devouring me, and I still couldn't make my hands work the way I needed them to.

Just as I started to panic, a powerful handgun fired six times from behind me, taking down a walker with each bullet. I exhed and turned around to see who had bought me a few extra precious seconds.

"Carl...!" I gasped as I layed eyes on the young boy. He was breathing heavily, his gun pointed straight out and his ice blue eyes fierce.

"C'mon, they're still coming!" Carl urged me as he reached out his hand and helped me up. While I reloaded my AK-47, Carl fired off three more shots before having to reload his own weapon.

It was my turn to fire my gun, and that took out the rest of the pack that we had been dealing with. Still, there had to be at least a hundred or so more roaming around the prison lot, chasing us down like cats and mice.

"Where's your dad?!" I panted as Carl and I sprinted across the lot forgetting about my plan to go to the fire escape, seeing as that area was covered in undead.

"He's by the gate," Carl replied, "He's trying to figure out where they're coming in at."

I kept quiet, saving my breath, as we dashed the rest of the way to the gate, taking out as many walkers as we could the entire way there. All the while I frantically searched for my brother, but I couldn't see him. I prayed for the best and tried not to expect the worst.

"T-DOG!" Carl suddenly screamed, and I gasped and covered my mouth as my eyes laid upon what Carl had seen.

T-dog's body lay in the corner of the lot, mangled and almost unrecognizeable. His entire middle had been ripped apart and devored, his face frozen in a horrible expression of screaming pain. The amount of blood and shreds of skin and organs was unimagineable, and instantly my eyes filled with tears... I felt as if I'd throw up.

"Oh, god..." I whimpered as I grabbed Carl's shoulders and directed him another way.

As we ran, I could hear him sobbing. I wanted to stop him, look him in the eyes and tell him everyone else was going to be alright... But I just couldn't be sure of that.

So, we just kept running, hurdling over the bodies of walkers as we went. Some of them were crippled but still alive, and they reached out for our shoes as we passed them.

"DAD!" Carl yelled out as he spotted Rick, side by side with Daryl and Zach.

Their backs were all pressed together where they stood in the middle of the lot, rapidly firing bullets at the walkers. Each of them had great aim, taking down every freak that came their way.

"They're coming in through the back!" Rick shouted over the sound of gunfire, "Someone cut the lock and opened the gate, we've got to get-"

I didn't even wait for him to finish his sentence before my adrenaline kicked into overdrive, and I made a mad dash toward the back of the lot.

"KAYLA!" I heard my brother shout as I gained distance. "STOP!"

I ignored him and willed my legs to keep going. I was out of ammo for my AK-47, so I hooked it back to its strap, tossed it over my shoulder and whipped my knife out instead. I was still missing my pistols, but I'd have to make a plan to get those back without being eaten alive.

I dodged and ducked around the walkers, killing the ones I could, when finally I spotted it. A gate at the back corner of the lot had been swung open, the heavy duty lock and chain that had bound it lay on the ground in several pieces.

The gate led down a long, narrow fenced in area that trailed to the field outside... That's where the swarms were wandering in. I had to get through that gate... My legs carried me closer and closer, I was almost there...

Suddenly, I was tackled to the ground, and the putrid stench of rotting flesh overcame me. I struggled against the cement, pinned under the dead weight of a hungry walker. My one free hand was glued to its forehead, wobbling as it held the walker's snapping jaws just inches from my face... The hand that held my knife was trapped under the beast with the rest of my body, and I was running out of energy fast.

I groaned and fought the walker's face back. I looked into its face; It was missing its right eye, but the left one was cloudy and white, staring down at my neck. It lanky arms flailed about, broken in several places, fully exposing jagged pieces of bone.

I whimpered as my hand slipped a little on the walker's disgusting, slimey forehead. I knew I couldn't hold on much longer... Gruesome images of T-Dog flashed in my head.

I didn't want that to be me...

Suddenly, a metal baseball bat struck the walker in the jaw, and I heard the sickening *crunch* of its hollow bones caving in. The body flopped over to the side, and I quickly stood up.

Jessie lunged in front of me, swinging the bat one more time and swiftly crushing the walker's entire skull.

"Go!" She panted and pointed to the gate, obviously realizing what I was trying to do. "I'll cover you, go! Go!"

"Okay." I nodded firmly and raced through the gate into the narrow fenced in tunnel.

I was exhausted at this point, running on pure adrenaline as I used my knife to exterminate the few stragglers that blocked my narrow path.

I panted heavily, wiping dirt, sweat and blood from my face as I finally reached the clipped hole in the fence. In the distance, undead freaks were emerging from the trees and hobbling their way through the open field.

They were all a decent distance away, but there were so many of them... I needed to fix this now.

My eyes raced across the ground for something useful, anything that I could tie the fence back together with. My mind brightened when I remembered my belt.

I unlatched it, whipped it free from my denim shorts, and wrapped it through the links of the fence. I grunted as I tugged it as tight as possible.

It was sturdy, but as I watched the walkers drawing closer on the other side of the fence, I didn't trust that it would hold. So, I took my knife to my t-shirt, cutting three long strips of fabric and exposing my midriff.

I quickly yanked each piece of my shirt through the chain links, tieing triple knots as tight as I could. I wiggled the fence, nodding in approval. That was going to hold.

"OH GOD, BETH!" A horrific shriek came from the lot, scaring me half to death. It was Maggie.

"TINA, RUN! RUN!" Then Jessie's voice screamed.

A burst of powerful energy I didn't even know I had propelled me back through the fenced in tunnel, back into the lot, and into a horror scene.

Tina and Beth cowered in the far corner of the lot, the main focus of almost every walker inside the fence. A few feet away, Jessie and Maggie paniced. Each of their guns were out of ammo, and Jessie's bat wouldn't be able to take out a crowd eight bodies deep.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, unfolding in a gruesome chain of events. Maggie screamed for Rick and the rest of the guys while Jessie began pointlessly bashing the skulls of the walkers.

None of this mattered... Because as I watched in pure terror, I saw a look of realization in Tina's eyes. She saw a break in the crowd of undead, and abruptly shoved Beth through it. She just barely stumbled to safety, and I heard Jessie scream as Tina raised her handgun to her temple.

My heart stopped as I saw a blood thirsty freak leap up and sink its teeth into Tina's forearm. She screamed out in pain, but it only lasted a split second before she pulled the trigger, silencing her voice forever.

The bullet blew her skull to pieces right before my very eyes, and pieces of her short brown hair clung to the fence. I felt as if a piece of my soul had been ripped out as her body slumped into the crowd of geeks who hungrilly tore it apart.

I felt my grip on my knife loosening and my mind drifting away until someone grabbed ahold of me. I regained my thoughts and realized it was Maggie.

"C'mon, this is our chance...!" She cried out.

It made me sick to think about it, but she was right... Tina's body was keeping the herd at bay, but it was only a matter of time until they would be searching for more.

So, I grabbed ahold of Jessie's wrist, and we chased after Maggie and Beth.

"MAGGIE!' A voice hollered from above us.

The four of us looked up to see Glenn standing on the rooftop that the fire escape led to, which was complety open now that the walkers were distracted.

Now was our chance. Some of the undead began to stray from the pack, so we dashed as fast as we could to the metal fire escape.

"Hurry!" Glenn urged us.

We helped Beth up onto the ladder first, then Jessie. I grasped the bottom wrung and hoisted myself up, and Maggie had a few inches on all of us, so she had no problem pulling herself up.

We frantically crawled to the top, flopping onto the roof. Beth dashed to Hershel, and I couldn't help but wonder how he had climbed the ladder. Glenn attacked Maggie with a hug and a few quick kisses before giving her ammo, and joinging Rick and Daryl in picking off walkers below one by one.

"Kayla!" Zach cried out as he raced over, trapping Jessie and I in a hug. He then put both hands on either side of my face, staring into my eyes. "Why did you run off like that? You put yourself in danger."

"I... I closed... the whole in... the fence..." I panted to my brother as I searched his eyes. He just shook his head and let go of my face.

"You broke your promise." He muttered before turning and walking toward Rick, Daryl and Glenn.

In that moment, I wasn't registering anything except what I had seen happen to Tina. I trailed away from the group and sat down, staring into space.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as the harsh reality smacked me hard in the face.

Was this where everything finally fell apart...?

-TO BE CONTINUED-


	14. Chapter 14: This is War

We were stranded ontop of the roof for at least forty-five minutes before all the walkers were shot and killed.

After the last bullet was fired, the lot was eerily quiet. None of us spoke a word, and as I read everyone's sullen faces, I knew the losses of Tina and T-Dog were floating from brain to brain.

Beth suddenly broke down in sobs, turning to Hershel for comfort. He embraced her and rubbed a fatherly hand up and down her back in an attempt to comfort her.

Rick strayed from the group, walking to the edge of the building. He stopped near a brittle, rusted over air vent that was meant to spin and circulate. Our leader put his hands on his hips and let his head hang low. His shoulders trembled a little bit as his head slowly shook, and he raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.

I kept my eyes on Rick from my seated position. The silver handgun at his waist glinted in the moon light.

Suddenly, Rick exploded. He kicked the air vent abruptly with all the strength left in his body, causing it to break free from the roof and sail to the ground below with a loud *crash*.

I jumped from the sudden noise, as well as a few other members of the group. Rick then faced the field of walkers, letting out loud roars of pure rage. After the first few screams of raw energy, it turned into words.

"COWARDS!" He lashed out at the undead, and I could hear them outside the fence growling and working into a frenzy, "WHY? WHY!"

By now, I was full on sobbing, and I didn't care who saw it. I clamped a hand over my mouth to stifle my cries as Rick kept screaming. Zach and Jessie made their way over to where I was, taking a seat on either side of me. Zach wrapped his arm around me and Jessie layed her head of curly, tangled blonde hair on my shoulder.

Danny was seated across from us, keeping his gaze away from Rick. I managed to catch his eye, though, and reached my hand out toward him.

Despite our spat in the pharmacy the day before, Danny was still part of my group. He stared at me and my outstretched hand before standing up and walking to join the three of us. He sat next to Zach, who patted his knee.

We all watched as Rick unraveled, finally silencing his screams and toning them down to whimpers. Daryl then walked over to him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. That seemed to reel him back to Earth.

He nodded up at Daryl, taking a few more moments to collect himself before turning to the rest of us.

"We've got to clear the bodies." Rick told us. His voice cracked a little, so he cleared his throat.

And that was it. He said nothing more as he walked past us, and disappeared over the side of the roof to the fire escape.

Everyone exchanged glances and slowly stood up, following the same path Rick had taken. Jessie waited for Maggie to go over the edge before she began to scale down, then it was Zach's turn, and Danny followed.

I sighed as I waited for him to climb down a ways, staring out over the bloody battlefield across the prison lot. We had taken two tragic losses, we were broken... but we had survived, and I knew we would bounce back. If not for ourselves, then for Tina and T-Dog.

When it was my turn, and I turned and started to scale down the fire escape, I caught Daryl's eye from across the roof. For a second, I froze in my tracks as he stared at me. His ice blue eyes, usually emotionless, stone cold and intimidating, were soft and almost sad. The sorrowful feeling he was transmitting to me said he knew I had lost a dear friend just minutes ago... And I knew he was going through the same mental anguish. Whether or not he chose to show it, I knew T-Dog had been a friend to him.

I flashed Daryl a gloomy look of sympathy before he turned away, and I continued the rest of the way down the side of the building.

On the ground, everyone was quiet and sullen. Rick pointed out orders, telling us which bodies to clear first and where to dump them to be burned.

I felt sick to my stomach as I helped Maggie lift up the body of a male walker, missing the top half of its skull and dressed in a dirty, ripped up suit and tie. It must have traveled a hell of a long way, all the way from the city...

I tried not to think of the life he lived before the falling down of the planet. He probably worked 9 to 5 in a quiet office, making money to put food on the table for himself, or maybe for his wife and kids...

I completely pushed those thoughts from my mind as Maggie and I tossed the empty shell of a human being over the fence and into a deep pit that I had never noticed before.

One body down, and only about 150 more to go... There were so many that, in most places, we had to strategically step over them in specific patterns.

I worked with Maggie for a few more minutes, clearing out about 15 or 20 bodies before Glenn called her to him from across the lot. I nodded to her and assured her I'd be okay on my own... I knew I had something I needed to fix, anyway.

I made my way back inside the cafeteria, trying to remember where Rick had stashed all the bungee cords... When suddenly, a voice spoke out so softly, but in the feel of the moment it startled me and caused me to flinch.

"Is it safe to come out...?"

It had come from the cells behind me, and I quickly turned to see Carol clutching baby Judith to her chest. She had a look of stress and terror plastering her face, and I rushed to her. I totally forgot she had hidden inside a cell just before we had all taken off outside.

"Are you both okay?" I asked as I looked them over.

Carol nodded, patting Judith's tiny back, causing her to gurgle. "We're fine.."

Carol's voice sounded dry and stiff, as if she didn't want to talk to me, which I didn't understand... But I just blamed it on the trauma.

Then it hit me. She didn't know about our two casualties.

"Carol..." I began as I reached out and stroked Judith's wispy hair, my voice sad.

She turned her mature eyes to me, sensing the tone in my voice and suddenly looking concerned.

"...T-Dog and Tina... They're..." I pressed on, finding it difficult to actually say what had happened to them outloud. I cleared my throat and composed myself. "They're gone."

Carol clutched Judith in her right arm as her left hand jetted up to cover a gasp escaping her lips. Tears filled her stormy gray eyes and she shook her head at me in disbelief.

I chewed my lip as tears began to pool in my own eyes. I felt my chin begin to quiver as I dropped my head to the ground, hearing Carol let out a muffled sob.

I quickly reached up and wiped my tears, ignoring the images of T-Dog's body laying mangled on the cement, and Tina pulling the trigger of her gun flooding my brain. I looked up at Carol, collecting my sanity.

"I'm looking for bungee cords," I informed her, changing the subject, "Do you remember where Rick put them?"

Carol nodded her head, turning to point into Rick's cell that she had been hiding in. "They're under the bottom bunk."

I nodded a thank you to the short haired woman before briskly making my way past the steel bars, and kneeling to the bottom bunk. I reached my skinny, tan arm underneath the bedframe, and my fingers brushed against a coil of cords, just like Carol had told me. I dragged the entire coil out in front of me and pulled three thick cords out of the bunch.

I pushed the rest of the bungee cords back under the bunk, then exited the cell and made my way back outside, passing Carol and Judith sitting at one of the tables.

The lot was still littered with bodies, but everyone was working hard to clear them completely.

I scooted past everyone, making my way toward the narrow fenced in path that the walkers had busted through.

I kept my eyes straight forward as I rounded the corner around the cafeteria and the gate came into my view. I tried my hardest to ignore the enormous dark red stain in the corner where Tina had taken her own life... My stomach turned again as I thought about it against my will.

I quickly ducked into the fenced pathway, stepping over the bodies of walkers that I knew I'd have to drag out.

But before I did that, I had to fix my temporary patchwork on the hole in the fence. As I came to the end of the tunnel, I could see the still living walkers tromping about on the outside in the moonlight, and they hadn't sniffed me out yet... But I knew they would notice me as soon as I started rattling the fence.

So, I had to move fast. I pulled out my knife, quickly sawing through the three strips of fabric from my t-shirt, which I managed to do fairly silently.

The belt, on the other hand, was a completely different story. As soon as I began fumbling with the buckle, the fence began to rattle. My breath caught in my throat as I noticed a few heads turn on the outside of the fence. Those few walkers began to hobble in my direction, and I knew I had to focus.

The fence continued to rattle loudly as I finally unclasped the belt and ripped it from the chain links. This only caught the attention of almost the entire herd in the field, stirring them up and sending them straight for me.

I kept my eyes on them, knowing they moved slow enough to give me the time I needed... Provided I stayed calm, which I was struggling with.

I steadied my breathing as I blindly tossed the belt behind me, hearing it clatter against the cement. Then I reached for the first of three thick bungee cords. My hands trembled as I looped the cord through the top most links, pulling it tight and clasping the cord together.

The walkers were drawing closer, their moans amplifying and their scuttling feet stirring up dust around them in the dark. I was terrified, but I still had time. I fastened the second cord through the links and tightened it, then finished it off with the third cord.

Just as the hole was completely sinched, the wall of undead slammed themselves into the fence, scaring me to death. I squealed at the faces snarling and fingers reaching for me, losing my balance and toppling backwards.

"Ow..!" I yelped as I landed on my rear.

When the shock of how close the walkers were to me wore off, I stared up at them, realizing my work with the bungee cords was pretty was pretty solid.

The geeks slammed their bodies up against the fence as I stood up, desperate to reach me and take a bite, but they couldn't. I sighed, peering at each of their bloody, decaying faces. Sickening..

As I leaned down, grabbed my belt and refastened it through the loops of my shorts, I noticed something laying in the very corner of the pathway.

I tilted my head to the side as I slowly walked to it. It was a piece of paper, looking smudged and dirty as if it had been trampled.

I gulped, leaned down, and picked the paper up in my hands. There was a message on the front, and my stomach dropped as my eyes silently passed over the words.

"This is war. G."

-TO BE CONTINUED-

AN:: sorry this chapter was so short, everyone! The next one will be much better, I promise.

the daryl feels are getting closer, just a few more chapters... we're really getting into the story now (;

please reviewwww(: every message i get is appreciated! and pretty please give my X-Men fic a read! the next update is on its way.

until next time! xx


	15. Chapter 15: A Kind Gesture

"What's that?"

My muscles tensed up at the sudden question coming from the other end of the tunnel. The smudged up paper crinkled as my fingers tightened, and I looked up to see Daryl, ducking underneath the chain links and making his way over to me. He always seemed to sneak up on me in the most random moments.

Behind me, the hungry walkers kept pressing themselves into the fence, still persistant as ever. They squealed and hissed as they caught sight of Daryl tromping closer, stepping over the stiff bodies of their fallen comrades.

"Nothing good..." I sighed in response as I read the short sentence over again, "Look."

Daryl reached out and snatched the paper from me, and I watched as his sky blue eyes flashed over the words. His scruffy face twisted up in a mixture of confusion and anger as he glanced back over into my puzzled eyes.

For some reason, I had wanted more of a reaction out of him. But what more could he do, really? He was as clueless as I was.

"Why is this... Govenour guy trying so hard to kill us?" I started blurting my thoughts outloud as Daryl folded the piece of paper and tucked it into his back pocket, "If what Michonne said was true, he's got an entire town. Why does he need a prison, too? Why does he want this place so bad?"

Daryl raised an eyebrow at me as I said this.

"Think about it." He said, "Why do we like it here? Why do we need it? It's a fuckin' fortress, anyone in'eir right mind would want to live in a prison these days... I mean, you did, didn't ya?"

My cheeks flushed at his comment, remembering how we met almost two weeks ago now. I really couldn't believe Daryl was the same man that had chased me through the woods, and sometimes I wondered what had kept him from taking the easy route and just shooting me on the spot... Now, we were starting to become friends.

"I guess you're right..." I muttered as I turned to look at the undead crowd on the other side of the safety barrier.

They really were distracting. They made so many strange, repetitive sounds and eerie, unnatural movements... It was hard to believe they were regular people once.

I heard Daryl curse under his breath, knocking the toe of his boot against one of the bodies. He put his hands on his hips as he surveyed the rest of the corpses in the confined space.

"We'll worry about this damn note later... Rick's already havin' a nervous breakdown..." Daryl grumbled as he ran a hand through his hair, "Right now, let's get these geeks cleared outta here... I got 'is arms, you grab 'is legs."

He had a hold of the walker laying at his feet, grasping one boney arm in each hand. I followed his instructions, wrapping my fingers around the body's ankles. I made a face and tried to ignore the moist, slimey feeling of the decaying flesh against my hands.

We hobbled quickly to the right side of the lot, hurling the raggedy body over the fence and into the deep pit with the others.

I made a face as I wiped my hands on my torn up shirt, smearing black smudges all over the front. It was ruined, anyway.

When I glanced up at Daryl, he was smightly smirking at me. In the dim light of early morning, I could see the rugged, masculine age lines to his face; On his forehead, and around his eyes and mouth.

But he didn't look old... He was caught in that period of time between young adult and middle-aged. The blonde flecks in his scruffy goatee held onto the younger man in him.

"What?" I asked him as my eyes narrowed, and his smirk faded a little.

"You squimish, girly?" Daryl teased as he nodded toward my still slimey palms.

"No," I shot back defensively, my cheeks starting to feel warm, " I've killed those things with my bare hands before, I am not squimish."

Even though the disgusting, rotting walkers really did make my skin crawl, I never showed it. If it was one thing I hated, it was being seen as 'weak'.

I never wanted to be protected, not even by my own brother. So when the world changed, I had to charge head first straight into every fear I ever had.

Daryl chuckled a little at my brave sounding voice. As he turned around to walk away, I caught him rolling his blue eyes.

"Alright, hot shot." He said over his shoulder sarcastically, "Let's just git the rest'a these geeks outta here, huh?"

By now, the sky was starting to blend in hues of pinks and oranges, a sign that the sun was on its way. I scurried after Daryl to keep up, and we worked for about 45 minutes more with the rest of the group.

xxxxxx

The sun was halfway up in the sky, bleeding through the gaps of the tree trunks and illuminating the fog by the time all the bodies were gone. I stood by the watchtower next to Maggie and Jessie. Hershel had taken Beth inside where Carol was still hiding out with the baby.

Glenn and Danny had gone to the storage in the basement of the cafeteria to grab a few more shovels, which left Rick, Daryl and Zach out in the lot with us.

Jessie whipped out her inhaler and shook it a few times as we watched Rick tromp over to the side of the cafeteria. He snatched up a cannister of gas in each hand, walked over to Zach and Daryl, and set them down on the ground in front of them.

Jessie inhaled a puff as Rick's hushed voice drifted over us, instructing them to dump the gas over the bodies. He would strike the match and drop it into the pit, and they would let the bodies burn for a few minutes before packing more dirt over them, when Glenn and Danny returned.

I looked to Jessie as I heard her shake the inhaler again. It clicked around, reloading for another puff.

"Whoa, Jess," I said in a warning tone as she placed the contraption to her lips and inhaled, "Take it easy, you only have one left..."

"I know..." Jessie breathed back, flashing me a weak smile, "I saw the one in the box... Thanks, by the way. I can't help it, though... My chest is really tight, and I just feel... sick."

"If you feel sick," Rick's voice echoed from across the lot where he was leaning into the driver's side window of the Tuscon, "I wouldn't stick around out here. If you think the smell's bad now, wait till they start burnin'."

Jessie gagged at Rick's statement, and Maggie frowned in concern.

"You sure do look pale..." She observed as Jessie groaned, brushing her blonde curls out of her face. "Come on inside, I think my daddy's got somethin' for nausea."

Maggie looked up at me and noticed the worry all over my face. She smiled and patted Jessie's back in a motherly way.

"Do you want to come with us, Kayla?" She asked me softly.

I glanced over to the pit where the guys were busy dumping the gasoline all over the walker bodies. I scrunched my nose up, knowing what was going to happen next, and thought for a second.

"Um... No, that's okay. I kind of want to clear my head." I decided with a dry smile.

Maggie nodded and led Jessie toward the cafeteria door while I turned and stared at what was happening with the guys... It wasn't exactly helping to 'clear my head', but I just felt drawn to watch them.

Zach and Daryl had shaken what was left of the gasoline over the pit full of decaying bodies, and set the canisters to the side to be refilled later. Meanwhile, Rick strolled over with a book of matches.

I watched as he scowled into the hole in the ground. As he struck the match, the flame flashed and fizzled for a split second, then burned in an even, glowing orange. Rick wasted no time in tossing the burning match into the pit, igniting the gasoline soaked corpses in a bright, roaring flame.

On the other side of the mass grave, Daryl simply stood with his arms crossed, squinting emotionlessly at the flames. My brother pulled the arm of his grungy red long sleaved shirt over his nose and mouth, acting as a shield from the putrid smell.

It was starting to waft over to me now, and I was standing at least fifty yards away. I fought back the urge to gag as I yanked the collar of my shirt up over my freckled nose, which only helped a little bit. I held the shirt in place, feeling goosebumps rise all over my skin as the humid morning breeze tickled my midriff.

The sound of the cafeteria door creaking open from across the lot caught my attention, and I turned to see Glenn and Danny emerging from the building, each with a large shovel in hand. Thank God, they were going to put an end to this horrible stench.

Glenn led the way, propping the shovel over his thin shoulder as he made a path over to the pit, with Danny close in tow.

They stood and stared down at the burning bodies, both looking disgusted, as they waited for Rick to give them the signal. Zach leaned into Rick's right side, mumbling something into his ear. Rick's face twisted up in sorrow, but he quickly clenched his jaw and nodded sternly, recollecting himself.

He turned to my brother and extended his hand, grasping Zach's when he returned the gesture. Rick then patted my brother on the shoulder... and I tilted my head to the side as his shoulders shuddered a little bit.

From where I was standing, it looked like Zach was... crying... Something he never, ever did. Rick continued to talk to him, seeming like his voice would sound tough and firm, if I could hear it.

Suddenly, as quickly as he had broken down, Zach caught his composure. He looked to Rick, then Daryl, uttering a few small words before excusing himself. Glenn and Danny were given the signal to bury the bodies as Zach trailed away from the group, quickly crossing the prison lot and disappearing inside the cafeteria without even noticing me.

I breathed a sigh of relief once Danny and Glenn had shoveled enough dirt into the pit to smother the flames and almost completely extinguish the smell. The collar of my shirt dropped away from my face, and I tested the air...

Still a tinge of burning flesh, but not too horrible. I could tolerate it.

Rick stared off into the distance, totally in a different world, while Glenn and Danny finished up. I noticed Daryl calmly making his way to Rick's side, pulling out and unfolding a familier square of smudged up paper.

My stomach leapt up into my throat. He was going to show Rick the message I had found where the fence had been breached! I didn't know what to expect... Was he going to explode with rage? Would he bottle his emotions? Would he even have the slightest idea what to do, or would he just roll over and give up?

I stared wide eyed, my heart pounding as all these scenarios racked my brain. Daryl pulled Rick away from the other two just slightly, gingerly revealing the note to him.

When Rick reached up and took the paper, Daryl mumbled to him and pointed to the spot where I had found it, which was behind them and to their left.

It seemed to take a minute for Rick to absorb this information, but when he did, he simply folded the paper, and placed it in his breast pocket. Then, without a word, he turned on his heel and dismissed himself to the cafeteria, leaving Daryl looking confused.

He dropped his head to the ground for a moment and shook it, slowly raising it back up onto his shoulders.

I could see Daryl visibly exhale, turning to Glenn and Danny and motioning for them to follow him back into the fence.

I scrambled away from where I was spying through the chain links, scurrying across the lot and propping myself up against the rough bricks of the cafeteria building.

As their shuffling footsteps drew closer, I instinctively reached into my backpocket and pulled out my cigarettes and lighter. 305's today... Almost as bad as Newports, but they would have to.

My motions were fluid as I transported the cigarette from the pack to my lips, ignited the lighter's flame, and puffed. The lighter and the purple cardboard pack were safely hidden in the back pocket of my shorts, and I exhaled the first drag of smoke right as Daryl rounded the corner, leading Danny and Glenn.

"Everything good?" I asked the lot of them, my eyes bouncing from one to the other.

I earned a shrug out of Glenn as he tapped the tip of his shovel against the ground. Loose dirt and mud caked to the metal chipped away and littered the already bloodstained cement. "Nothing I haven't had to do about ten times already..."

Glenn's voice was glum as he stared off in the direction of the walker pit. He seemed troubled by his thoughts, but I decided I wouldn't press.

"Waste of gasoline, if you ask me." Danny added in flatly as he tossed his own dirty shovel over his shoulder, then looked to Glenn "You still got the key to that storage room?"

"Yea. I'll go with you, I wanted to find Maggie." The young Korean man flicked his dark eyes over to me as he turned to walk away, "Is she inside?"

I nodded as Daryl motioned to the cigarette in between my fingers, a sign that he was asking for one.

"Yea, she took Jessie inside to get some medicine a little while ago." I confirmed while I held the pack of 305's out to Daryl.

He snatched one of the five remaining cigarettes out of the pack, then I tossed him the green Bic lighter in my other hand.

"Thanks." Glenn replied softly, then headed for the door of the cafeteria.

It was very easy to see he was exhausted and disturbed, usually he was peppy and bubbly.

As Danny trailed along behind Glenn, I caught the slightest hint of a scowl on his face as he watched Daryl and I take silent puffs off our smokes.

I tried to ignore it, though... I didn't understand why he was so jealous. I mean, Hell, if he smoked cigarettes, I'd be offering them to him, too.

Instead of trying to figure it out, I waited until he was out of sight before I let out a long sigh.

"What's eatin' you?" Daryl asked in a grumble, earning a strange look from my end, "Eh, sorry. Bad choice'a words."

I smirked just slightly, shaking my head as I took a long drag off my cigarette. I held it firmly and tapped the white ashes away. I pursed my lips as I noticed the cigarette was halfway gone already, and I foresaw a second one in my near future.

"But seriously," Daryl spoke up again, his gruff voice a little more gentle this time... Just a little, "Everything all right... Y'know, with you?"

I inwardly rolled my eyes, but couldn't stop my smirk from widening. Daryl really wasn't the best at trying to console a person, if that was even really what he was trying to do.

Human interaction deeper than a "hello", "good bye", or "fuck you" seemed pretty difficult for him to manage... But, hey, at least he was trying, and that's all that mattered.

"Yea, I guess... Can't really tell if the shock's worn off yet." I replied as looked to my right and stared off distantly, "... What about you?"

Daryl paused, scuffing his dusty boots against the pavement as he walked over to where I was sitting. He propped himself up on the brick wall about three feet away from me, leaning on his shoulder and squinting in the early morning sun, now bright and fully visible in the sky.

"Death's always been a part'a life," Daryl mumbled after his short silence, the burning cigarette bobbing between his lips, "It's just a bigger part'a it now... Can't let it crush ya. Just gotta do all ya can to prevent it."

I nodded at his chilling words, sucking the last big of smoke out of my own cigarette. I exhaled and tossed the filter, reaching into my pack for a fresh one.

Images of Tina's skull splitting apart as she pulled the trigger of her handgun flooded my brain, and I felt a single tear pool in the corner of my left eye; the green one. I kept my cool as I reached up and wiped it away without a trace.

I patted my pockets for my green lighter, but didn't feel the usual rectangular lump under the denim. I glanced on either side of me before Daryl's palm extended out to me, the lighter nestled in the middle.

"Thanks..." I mumbled as my shoulders released tension that I hadn't even noticed, reaching up and gingerly grabbing the lighter.

Daryl's palms felt exactly as they looked, rough and leathery, stained with dirt and oil... But there was something about just that brief moment of our skin connecting that was comforting.

I suddenly remembered those few days ago when I had helped Daryl skin his catch of squirrels, and the same thing happened... Our fingers touched, and it had felt like a bolt of lightening had struck my spine.

But, this time, I felt some sort of... comfort. What did that mean?

My mind wandered as I flicked the lighter's flint, igniting the flame and watching it dance at the end of my new cigarette. When I felt the thick smoke burn the back of my throat, I let off and slipped it back into my pocket.

"First death." I said flatly, raising my eyebrows a little. Smoke leaked from my lips as I spoke.

"What?" Daryl asked, sounding confused.

When I turned my head to the side to look at him, I could see his facial expression matched his voice... A tight lipped frown, puzzled, misty blue eyes, and furrowed eyebrows.

"Tina was the first of our group..." I clarified, pausing to inhale the numbing nicotine before I uttered the inevitable, eerie words, "... To die. She was only 19."

My heart wrenched as I listened to my own voice, but I just focused on the snake of smoke slithering from my throat and dispersing into the outside air.

"Really?" Daryl asked, sounding a little surprised, "Hell, we've lost three 19 year olds..." He paused and pulled at the cigarette between his lips, "... an 8 year old girl. Searched for 'er for days..."

I noticed the soft, sad tone Daryl's voice fell into and searched his face for some sort of emotion.

"That's awful..." I whispered, and Daryl shrugged, flicking the butt of his cigarette away from him.

"It might be awful, but that's what happens now. It ain't like it was before." He countered, sounding so... indifferent.

I scowled up at him, suddenly feeling the slightest bit offended.

"Well, you might be okay with just accepting people dying," I said curtly, twiddling my half burned cigarette between my fingers, "But I can't do that. You make it sound like those people didn't matter. Or Tina. And what about T-Dog?"

Daryl held his hands out in front of him as my voice rose.

"Whoa, I never said any'a that." He defensively snapped at me, "That ain't what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?" I questioned him as I took the last drag off my cigarette, exhaled, and stubbed the butt against the cement.

"I meant you gotta learn to grieve and move on." He stated bluntly, "There ain't nothin' you could'a done."

I stared up at Daryl, and he never wavered his gaze for a second. Slowly, I felt the intensity in my eyes dull. He was right... There was nothing I could have done to save Tina.

Finally, I heaved a sigh, running my fingers through my long, tangled hair. I cringed at the uncomfortable tugging feeling, the humidity only matting my hair even more. I gave up and simply tied my hair into a tight but messy bun at the back of my head.

"Look," Daryl's voice rattled my eardrums, breaking the silence that I wasn't even aware of, "I didn't mean to offend ya, or nothin'... Do you need ta get outta here for a while?"

I stood up and quizically stared Daryl in the eyes. Even through his squinting eyelids, I could see the sparkly, pale blue color.

"Get out of here?" I repeated slowly, "What are you talking about?"

"Outta here?" He said, his eyebrows raising, "You know, outside the fence, away from the prison? If yer anything like me, ya get a little tired'a the constant gloom and doom 'round here..."

"...Okay," I replied, studying Daryl's mature face to see if this was a joke, "Where are we going?"

"Well, I'm goin' huntin'... Maybe a few other places. Prob'ly gonna be gone most'a the day." Daryl said as he started walking toward the cafeteria door. "Just gotta grab a few things... You comin' with me?"

I grinned. "Really? You want me to go with you?"

"Hey," Daryl said sternly while cocking an eyebrow at me, "Offer ain't gonna last forever."

"Duh, I wanna go." I told him, rolling my eyes.

"Alright, well go git yer stuff. Wait for me right here when yer done."

I nodded and skipped up the stairs to my cell, eager to get out of these walls for a little while... It was just going to be a little weird being completely alone with Daryl.

I grabbed my backpack, unzipping it and examining the contents. In the front pocket I knew I had cigarettes and a few lighters, and as I patted the left side pocket, I confirmed that I had four strawberry granola bars left. In the main section, there were two bottles of water, some bullets, and a raincoat.

I shrugged, that seemed like a good pack for a day's trip. So, I zipped the pockets up and and slung the bag over my shoulder, bounding out of the dingy cell and down the stairs.

I stepped lightly as I made my way back outside, leaning against the wall in the spot Daryl had told me to wait. I tapped my Chuck Taylor's against the ground absentmindedly.

I wasn't standing there long before Daryl emerged from inside, armed with his crossbow and a small backpack of his own.

"All right, let's go," Daryl grumbled, "But there's two rules: One, don't do nothin' stupid, like git yerself bit. Two, I ain't takin' the heat when yer brother gets pissed off that you left."

I huffed in frustration as Daryl led me to an exit point in the fence, where there were little to no walkers.

"I don't care if he gets mad." I scoffed, "I'm a big girl, he knows that."

Daryl shook his head a little as we ducked through the fence, scooting quietly through the grass and into the woods, somehow avoiding the few walkers around us.

"Whatever. Just watch yer back, little girl."

-To Be Continued-


	16. Chapter 16: Caught Off Guard

The sound of locusts buzzing droned loudly in the Georgia summer heat as I followed Daryl through the muggy woods.

Right as he stopped and pointed his crossbow at a small animal moving in the distance, I reached up to slap a mosquito biting the clammy skin of my neck. As I rubbed the stinging area, I made a mental note to look for bug spray the next time we went on a supply run.

The arrow shot from the crossbow and nailed a tree trunk a few yards away, making a plunk against the wood.

"Got 'im." Daryl mumbled triumphantly, lowering his weapon.

"What is it?" I asked him curiously.

"Squirrel." Daryl replied back as he hiked one leg over a fallen, rotted out log, then the other. Then he glanced over his shoulder at me and added, "Pretty big one, too."

I craned my neck and watched him, seeing how far he was going to walk. I made an impressed face as he drew further and further away, finally bending down and yanking his arrow from a tree trunk coated in moss.

"Wow, nice shot." I called to Daryl as he roped his kill to his belt.

"Got a lotta practice over the past year," Daryl replied with a raise of his eyebrows, and I knew he was talking about walkers.

"I know what you mean." I sighed in response as I placed one hand on my hip and used the other to wipe a thin film of sweat off my forehead. "Oh, hey, I see another one!"

I hushed my voice and waved Daryl over to me. As he approached, crossbow raised, I pointed through a gap in the trees just a few feet in front of us. A squirrel was resting on a trunk, its fluffy tail twitching about.

He nodded, aimed, and fired. The arrow whisked through the air, making the same plunk sound as it nailed the poor, unsuspecting squirrel to the bark.

"Nice!" I praised his archery with a wide smile, that dulled after a second, "... How are we gonna get him down?"

Daryl stared up at the squirrel, not too far up on the tree trunk, but too high for either of us to reach. His masculine hand reached up and stroked the scruff on his chin as he pondered.

"Good question." He finally concluded, "You any good at climbin'?"

I could tell his question was a joke, but I looked over at him with a smile, anyway.

"Actually, yea." I stated confidently, "I just have to check out the tree first."

Daryl's footsteps crunched into the fallen leaves as he followed me, ducking underneath low laying tree branches and dodging bushes.

"I was just kiddin'." He said to me as we stopped at the base of the tree.

"I know, but how else are we gonna get him down?" I asked with a shrug, examining the tree's climb-ability. "And you need your arrow back, right?"

I was in luck; There were a few branches jutting out just above me, I could reach them if I jumped a little. From there, I could easily scale the trunk and grab the squirrel.

"Yea, but-" Daryl started to reply, but changed the direction of his comment as I hopped up and latched onto the lowest branch, hoisting myself up, "Look, just be careful, alright? Don't fall outta there an' break yer neck, 'cause I ain't carryin' ya back."

I rolled my eyes but didn't look down at him as I spoke back.

"Will you relax?" I said as I grabbed another branch and pulled myself higher. I was about halfway to the squirrel. "Nothing's gonna happen."

I could hear Daryl grumbling on the ground below, but just ignored it. The next branch was a little higher, causing me to have to strain my arms and shoulders to be able to reach.

My finger tips grazed the bark, but slipped off just as I tried to grasp it. I gasped as my balance wobbled, but I was quick to recover, leaning my center into the support of the trunk.

"Looks like you almost fell." Daryl called up to me in a smartass tone.

When I got my grip on the branch and lifted my body higher, I steadied my body and turned my head over my shoulder so I could see him.

"I got it." I assured Daryl sharply, and he shrugged from the ground, turning around to keep a look out for walkers.

I kept my eye on the squirrel, inching upward the rest of the way until I was right underneath it. Making sure my left hand had a steady grip on the rodent, I reached up with the right and yanked on the arrow. It took two tries but finally the arrow popped out of the trunk, and the limp body of the squirrel flopped into my hand.

"Heads up!" I shouted down to Daryl, who looked up at me from the ground.

I held the squirrel out, squinting one eye and aiming for Daryl as best as I could. I dropped the carcus, watching it sail downwards, right into his hands.

He tied it to the rope with the other one and let them both hang from his belt. While Daryl was busy with the squirrels, I clutched the arrow between my teeth as I started my descent back to the ground.

I felt for the sturdy branches with my feet, gradually making my way to the bottom of the trunk. My feet thudded against the grass when I finally hopped down, reaching up and snatching the arrow from between my teeth.

"You're welcome." I said with a grin and held the arrow out to Daryl.

He cocked an eyebrow, taking the arrow from my fingers and placing it with the others at the bottom of his bow.

I gave Daryl a sassy look and started heading off again, eager to find more prey to hunt.

"Hey, Kayla," Daryl's grizzly voice piped up from behind me.

"Yea?"

"Gimme a smoke."

I cackled a laugh, grabbing my backpack and twisting it around to my front so I could unzip the front pocket, "You liiiike... L&M's?"

"Hell, I don't care." Daryl croaked to me, his reflexes acting fast as I tossed the red pack to him. "Lighter?"

I tossed that back to him, too, trading for the pack of cigarettes. I snatched one out for myself and tucked the pack into my pocket, just in time to catch the lighter from Daryl and ignite the end of my cigarette.

I exhaled the smoke, looking back at Daryl who was tapping ashes onto the forrest floor. The heat wasn't so bad where we were in that moment, shaded under a thick, leafy canopy... But the humidity was dense and smothering.

Since it was best to keep moving out in the open like we were, Daryl and I multitasked, smoking our cigarettes and watching our steps on the uneven ground as we walked. I was leading the way, warning Daryl of weak spots in the dirt and tree branches that snapped back like rubber bands.

"Another snapper," I called over my shoulder as I passed through a cluster of thin branches.

I kept walking, but after just two steps I heard the branches whip backwards, striking Daryl sharply in his chest and neck.

"Son of a bitch...!" He barked, fighting his way through the now tangled branches.

"Hey, I warned you." I told him with a smirk and a shrug.

Daryl just glared at me lightly, wiping a tiny bit of blood from a scratch on his neck before stepping in front of me.

"How 'bout I lead the way from now on, huh?" He grumbled as he peered at me with his blue eyes.

I stifled a laugh as I gestured to the bumpy path in front of us. "Be my guest."

Daryl continued through the woods in a huff, and I scrambled to keep up.

"Where are we going, anyway?" I called up to him, stepping over an overgrown tree root.

"Follow the leader!" He hollered back.

I rolled my eyes, knowing he wasn't going to tell me.

xxxxxx

xxxxxx

"Do you think any celebrities survived?"

"I dunno. Who cares?"

"It's just weird to think about, that's all."

"Prob'ly not. They were so used to havin' other people take care of 'em, there's no way they woulda known what to do when this shit broke out."

Daryl and I sat ontop of a large boulder next to a muddy creak that trickled through the woods, taking a break from walking and snacking on some granola bars.

"You never know. Maybe Bruce Willis is still alive out there somewhere, he was pretty badass." I said between chews, "Or like, Ryan Reynolds... That would be so amazing if he lived."

Daryl crumpled the empty granola bar wrapper in his hand and took a swig from his water bottle.

"Yea, well keep dreamin', 'cause I doubt any of 'em are still around."

"Hey, there's always hope." I pointed out, "I mean, now that there's really no such thing as money, TV or movies anymore, they would just be regular people like us."

Daryl stared at me, his eyes mysterious and narrow as he listened to my philosophy. His reply was simply to grunt, and take another short drink of water.

I copied him, popping the last bite of my granola bar into my mouth and washing it down with a sip of warm water.

"C'mon, didn't you have any celebrity crushes?" I asked, "Think about it, the population's shrunk down so much that if they did survive, and somehow we did come across them, we might have a chance with them."

Daryl looked at me again, one of his eyebrows cocked.

"You think about this kinda stuff a lot?" He asked, sounding like he wanted to laugh, but of course kept a straight face.

"I guess." I replied with a shrug, "There's a lot of time to think, usually."

Daryl nodded and stared out over the trees.

"Well... I guess I wouldn't mind if Scarlett Johanson came walkin' through here." He confessed, "... Or Angelina Jolie."

I raised my water bottle as I grinned and pointed at him. "See? It makes sense, doesn't it."

I giggled and Daryl finally cracked a small hint of a smile, which was short lived. He raised his hand toward me, signaling me to hush. My breath caught in my throat as I watched him tune in on the sounds around us.

"What is it?" I whispered.

"Shh..." Daryl hushed, placing a finger to his lips.

His eyes flicked over to mine as a series of twigs snapped loudly below us. My stomach dropped to my knees as the sound got louder, accompanied by low groans and gurgles...

I instinctively reached for the knife strapped to my leg, unsheathing it as I scanned the area. Where were they going to come from?

When I caught sight of the first one, a tall, lanky figure wearing a soiled white dress, I pointed to it with my knife. Daryl glanced over at it and nodded, in turn pointing out six more that were headed toward us from the other direction.

Okay... Seven. That wasn't too bad of a number, we could handle that.

The only problem was this boulder we were sitting on top of. It was high enough to just barely keep us out of the reach of the undead, but left us no escape route but to jump as far as we could manage, and run for it.

But, if we didn't inflict at least a little damage on these freaks, that plan would probably just get us bit... So we had to think this through.

I racked my brain for a plan as the walkers noticed Daryl and I perched ontop of the boulder like sitting ducks. Their jaws snapped as they hissed and hobbled over to the rock, pressing their bodies against the rough surface.

Daryl kicked a boney hand away from his boot, cursing as he inched backwards a little. The walkers groaned and wheezed, peering up at us with their sunken in faces and cloudy eyes.

He managed to get another solid kick to the walker's face, his heel sinking deep into its eye socket. The corpse instantly fell limp, crumpling to the side.

That still left six, and I could hear more straggling through the trees toward us.

I cringed as one of them clawed at the surface of the boulder, ripping the cracked, yellowing nails from its fingertips and leaving bloody smears on the mineral.

I slung my knife at the creep closest to me, but missed by a few inches, only scraping the gritty surface of the boulder. I couldn't lean over enough to get a kill shot without falling into their waiting arms.

"Shit." I muttered as I lifted my foot away from one of their swiping hands, but as I lowered it back down, the walker reached up with its other hand and snagged my ankle. "Ah! Daryl!"

I shook my leg in an attempt to break the shrieking beast's grip, but it was too strong. Panic set in as I felt my body slipping downwards, and my breathing became ragged. I clutched my knife, knowing this thing was most likely going to drag me to the ground.

"Bastard!" Daryl growled, kicking the walker's temple.

The blow busted a joint in the neck of the freak, but didn't kill it. If anything, it got more pissed off, yanking at my leg more aggressively.

With its head still cocked unnaturally to the side, the walker proceeded to drag me down the face of the boulder. As soon as my body hit the ground, I flew into action, knowing I would be ripped apart if I wasted even one second.

I kicked the knees of the walker in front of me, snapping the brittle bones and watching as it fell over. This gave me a gap to slip through, smashing the seething skull of the fallen corpse on my way.

A shriek escaped my lips as I stumbled away, feeling fingers grazing my hair as I went.

In front of me, the muddy bank to the creek sloped downward toward the murky water. Behind me, the walkers hissed and stumbled toward me, and I didn't know what to do.

There were too many living dead for me to kill off with my knife, and even if I used my gun, that would only attract more...

"JUMP IN THE CREEK!"

I gasped as something thudded to the ground a few feet away from me, and turned to see what it was. The two squirrels Daryl had killed earlier lay sprawled in the grass, sliced up and dripping blood.

"KAYLA, C'MON, DAMMIT!" Daryl's voice shouted again, "SWIM ACROSS! I'LL BE RIGHT BEHIND YA!"

I didn't even give it a second thought. As the walkers trailed over to the fresh squirrel meat, I dashed for the bank.

As soon as my shoes hit the mud, they slipped out from under me and I tumbled down the bank, splashing into the shallow end of the water on my hands and knees. I quickly stood up and wobbled toward the other side pf the creek, which was probably about twenty or thirty feel long... I just hoped it wasn't too deep.

The muck at the bottom of the creek glued to my shoes like suction cups as I waded. Thankfully, the water only rose up to my waist, but it was a struggle to move through.

Pure adrenaline propelled me across the creek. I was out of breath, but not out of energy. I managed to crawl onto the muddy bank, still able to hear the walkers growling from across the water behind me.

The bank was too steep and slippery for me to climb, which I concluded through trial and error. I panted for breath as I slowed down and examined my surroundings, looking for a way out... And my eyes landed on a web of thick vines sticking out through the mud, growing off of a sickly looking tree on the edge of the bank.

I rushed to it, yanking my feet from the mud as they sank into it. My leg muscles were burning, but I had to keep going.

When I approached the vines, I reached up and grasped them, letting out a groan of exhaustion as I tried to pull myself up. I tried my hardest to get some kind of grip on the muddy ledge with the bottoms of my shoes, but just ended up slipping and sliding all over.

After my third failed attempt, I had to drop from the vines, and take a few deep breaths. I reached up again, gritting my teeth as I hoisted the entire 110 pounds of my body with my strained arms muscles.

By some miraculous force, I was able to lift myself onto the grassy bank. I was completely drained, my lungs feeling shriveled, and my clothes covered in mud.

But I pushed myself up off the ground. I couldn't bear to look behind me for Daryl, terrified of what could have become of him.

Even though I was dizzy and light headed, I forced myself to keep moving. There was a tree line a few feet away from me, and I hobbled closer to it, hoping there would be something better on the other side.

But as my body passed through the gaps of the tree trunks, the loose dirt gave way beneath my feet, catching me completely off guard.

I heard myself scream as my body plumeted downward.

My forehead smacked against something hard, and as my vision faded to black, I could feel loose dirt and pebbles cascading down upon my body like snow...

-TO BE CONTINUED-


End file.
